Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-26
COLD STORAGE EGGS
How They Are Tested and Kept Fresh
for Months at q Time.

From the New York Tribune.
Cold storage Of eggs is one of the great
est conveniences Of modern times. giving
housewives eggs in abundance at season
when there would otherwise be an egg
famine, and enabling the produce mer-
chant to control the market the year round.
Before this was done there was GER
tainty Of obtaining fresh eggs except In
spring and early summer. and spectators
were continually arising to 'bulP' the mar
ket. process which often met with abject
failure. mo sooner was the market cor
nered than hens all over the country began
laying" said an unfortunate SPECTATOR.
And there was no possible way of con-
trolling the hens. he added, sadly. Today
the prices OF eggs are definitely controlled
by the cold storage houses.
II not greater than. the supply. It Is esti-
mated that every five years the consump-
ton Of eggs doubles. and only the success
Of cold storage keeps down the prices. In
cold storage houses eggs may be kept for
an indefinite time as fresh as II they were
just laid The secret of success In this
matter lies in careful sorting and packing
OF the eggs In uniform temperature.
An old picture in the Dresden gallery rep
resents Dutch housewife testing eggs"
and shows that the method in use today
was In vogue more than 100 years ago. ex-
cept for the substitution OF a strong cleo
trio light for the ancient oil lamp The in.
terror OF the egg ia examined by the glow
OF light which shines directly through it..
II q perfect ball Of rosy red is found float
ing In clear liquid in q clean SHE'LL the egg
Is fresh. II there Is q slight vacuum at
one end It IS fresh enough for ordinary USE
but not quite SO fresh as the first one.
Evaporation has set in, but for cake-mak-
ing and for many purposes this egg Is bet
ter than q perfectly fresh one.
Finally when the egg has decomposed.
the yOlk sticks to the shell: It is stale and
unfit for use. though It may not be odor-
GUS. Eggs which this test shows to be
practically fresh laid may not have been
in the barnyard for months. while those
that have not been properly stored will not
bear "candlfng." though they have been
laid only few weeks.
The cold storage houses begin to store
storing after the month Of June until cold
weather comes again. In the hot, sultry
weather Of August eggs. like all other per-
ishable products, spoil easily, and are usu-
ally unfit for storage purposes by the time
they are brought to market. The first eggs
to reach the great packing houses como
from the far south. In March the middle
states and those near by send in their eggs
for storage. In April and May eggs from
the north and eastern states reach market
in great quantities Before the end of
June there are often thousand car loads
In market to be stored for the duh season
when hens win not lay
At these packing houses the temperature
Is kept at 30 degrees Fahrenheit by means
of pipes through which brine circulates, ex-
actly as steam does In modern houses. The
secret of storing eggs successfully consists
freezing point, in surroundings Of spotless
cleanliness, and in sorting those that have
begun to be stale from those that are
strictly fresh.