The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-09-07

| this country the eggs OF sea birds have long
| been gathered for food. On the eastern shore
| OF Virginia, eggs Of the laughing gull are fre.
quently eaten, and those of gull. terms and her
| ons were few years ago gathered in great
| quantities along the coast of Texas Thousands
| of eggs Of guls aud INJURIES have been gathered
annually on the farrallone islands, of the coast
| OF California.
Eggs besides those Of birds arc sonnet imcs
eaten. Turtle eggs are highly priced In most
countries where they are abundant. They were
once more commonly eaten in America than they
are now. possibly owing to the moro abundant
supply in former times The eggs Of the terra.
pin arc usually served with the flesh in some "
the ways of preparing it for the table. Fish
eggs, especially those Of the Sturgeon are eaten
IN large quantities, preserved with salt, under
the name OF caviar. Shad roe Is also fiml lar
example Of tho use Of fish eggs a. food Mention
may also be made of the use of the eggs Of ali.
gators, lizards, scrpcnts and some insects by
races who lack the prcuditcs of western ma.
tions. However, in general. the terms eggs,
when used in connection with food topics, refer
to the eggs Of birds, usually domestic poultry
Since in all cases the egg is designed to furn.
sh the sole source Of material for growth and
development of the young individual for con.
siderable time. IL is evident that it must con.
tain all the elements rcQured-that Is, that It
must be perfect food for the young
Min is another familiar example Of animal food
containing all the elements Of complete foaS
for the young and growing individual Milk and
eggs are frequently spoken OF az perfect
foods on this account. The designation is, how
ever misleading, for. although it is true that
they contain all the required elements for the
growth and maintenance Of the young bird or
the young mammal. as the case may he. the Gle.
mentS are not in the right proportion for the
sole nourshmcnt Of an adult individual
The egg industry is Of considerable CONNER.
cial importance. Tho total number of eggs pro.
duccd in the United states in 1870 was esti.
mated to be s2O,000.Oo0 dozen, ana these figures
arc quite often said to he too low.
The United States formerly imported A large
number of eggs and exported very few The
ratio has changed within tho last ten years. and
now the exports largely exceed the imports In
1870 the total number exported was in round
numbers $4,000 dozen, worth 5000: in 1892
3d9i,OW dozen, worth SOIL, 900. In $500 this
country imported 5000 900 dozen, which were
valued at s2,000,0Oo. and in 1890 only 225 900
dozen. valued at S2l.0OO.
Taking into account the five years up to and
including lsos, 81 per cent. OF the exported eggs
were sent TO Cuba, 20 per cent to Canada and
II per cent 10 Great Britain. During the same
period 96 per cent. OF the riggs imported came
from Canada, per cent. from China and :he
remainder from various other countries
These statistics of the egg trade are OF inter.
poultry industry. and indicate what it may be.
come in the future. Some OF the DEVELOPMENTS
may he fairly attributed 10 the work Of the
government and the agricultural experiment STA.
tons. For many years considerable number OF
the stations, especially those in Alabama, Califor.
MA, Indiana Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine Missa.
oh,i'etts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina
North Dakota, Oklahoma Oregon, Rhode Island
south Carolina, Utah and West Virginia have
bren experimenting upon methods Of feeding
and caring for poultry, the comparative value Of
different breeds, the possibility Of increasing egg
production by proper feeding and the selection
OF laying stock and similar problems The de-
partmcnt of agriculture has done much to en-.
courage the poultry industry by collecting and
distributing information and in other ways
In many OF the dietary studies made in tho
United states data were recorded Of the cost
OF different foods and the relative amount os
nulrltivc material contributed by each In proper.
ton to the total cost. Compared with other
foods at the usual prices eggs at twelve cents
per dozen were found to he a cheap source of
nutrients; at sixteen cents per dozen they were
fairly expensive. and at twenty-five cents per
dozen and over they were very expensive.