Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-04-06


1t remains unheralded and I'M
sung for many days, or until
some inquisitive boy or girl dis
covers it.
An egg in most cases becomes
dirty from the nest in which it is
laid. for after il leaves the nest
it is generally kept in fairly clean
baskets, boxes or crates. Dirt
nearly always includes moisture
because dry dirt does not stick
in any quantity to the smooth
shell.
The moisture on the shell makes
a sort Of soft spot through which
germs and bacteria gain an en-
trance, causing the egg to become
bad or rotten. If the nests are
kept clean and dry, the eggs will
not easily spoil, but will keep for
days, and even months, in a cool
temperature.
But farmers are careless. With
most of them egg marketing is a
side issue, If it is not carried on
entirely by the women of the
household.
On many farms chickens are
kept because il has always been
customary to have them and be-
cause they furnish a great deal
of cheap, nourishing food for the
farm table. If any eggs are left
over at the end OF the week, or
possibly the month, they are
taken to town and sold. These
are the conditions that prevail
upon many a typical American
farm.
Farmers will often allow nests
to become filthy, and will permit
laying chickens to roam at will all
over the farm. and those Of their
neighbors as well, rather than
keep them penned up and feed
them.
Thus, in the first place, the eggs
become dirty shelled, and in the
second place they are often laid
in distant, almost inaccessible
places.
When these hidden eggs are
found they are often partly
Matched, and If the weather is at
all moist, they are sure to be
full of bacteria. And strange as
it may seem. many farmers will
send such eggs to market.
= Z
that all eggs will produce chicks
if they are set upon long enough
by a hen. This is not so. Eggs
may be fertile or sterile. If they
are fertile, they are much more
likely to become bad, the fertile
spot being the first part of the
egg TO become infected by baC-
terra. This infection forms a
spot" which in due time becomes
a rot"
Farmers wishing to sell their
eggs for food purposes, therefore,
should encourage the laying of
sterile eggs by killing the male
birds or penning them up dur
ing the laying season.
BY doing this, by providing
clean nests for the hens. by keep
ing the eggs dry and cool until
they leave his hands, and by dis
posing of them quickly, the far
mer could stop a great deal Of
the waste in the egg business.
The farmer keeps his eggs until
he has a large basketful, the viii
lage grocer keeps them until he
has several crates, perhaps. and
the shipper of eggs stores them
until he has accumulated a car
load lot Then they go to some
city. when they are distributed
TO the storage warehouses, the
iObhers, the retailers and the con-
sumers. All this takes time
much time-and during all these
days the eggs are getting older
and staler.
when the eggs arrive at the
place of business of the buyer or
shipper i'm the small town or viii
lage, they should be candled and
graded at once, and then packed
in good cases and kept in a chill
ed room until shipped, and when
shipped they should be placed in
refrigerator cars. II cracked eggs
are packed. or if eggs become
cracked in shipment. they soon
deteriorate and cause others 90
become infected, due 10 the mOis-
ture penetrating the shells. taking
dirt and bacteria with it.
Careless handling along this
stage Of the journey results in ir-
reparable loss to the whole bust
ness.
Now, the eggs packed in crates
after a journey by rail. arrive at
the distributing center. where
they are. put into cold storage or
distributed to jObbers or retail
ers. If the eggs are good when
they are placed in cold storage,
they are likely to be good when
they come out, but they generally
have a stale. unpleasant taste
when eaten raw or soft boiled.
The distribution system is bet
ter than the collecting system. be-
cause eggs are not generally re-
moved from cold storage until
they are wanted by the retailers,
but even then a long time elapses
between the cold storage ware
house and the consumers table,
and. i'm addition. eggs are more
likely TO spoi, after storing than
before.
When bad eggs are discovered
by the egg meu-buyers, shippers
and storage men-they are laid
aside. Sometimes they are broken
and cans of them are frozen solid
and stored away, later TO be used
I'm especially I'm cakes.
All of these bad conditions can
be eIiminated-in fact. they are
uow being slowly eliminated. The
large profits that are aggTulug To-
those producers and dealers who
are able % sell eggs that have q
certain trade lsd71e ~ TTrutlry
and who are ---e 10 keep up the