The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1914-06-18
EGGS BY PARCEL POST
A System of Marketing That Offers
Possibilities Of Better Prices for the
Producer and fresher Articles for
the Consumer.

| tue Nou>utusts
Washington, ID. c.. June lS.-That
eggs can be marketed successfully by
parcel post and that this method fire.
quently secures better price for the
producer and fresher article for the
consumer has now been demonstrated
to the satisfaction Of the experts in
the U. S. Department OF Agriculture.
The Department conducted tests that
covered a period of five months Al
the end of that period il came 10 the
conclusion that the parcel post was of
particular value to the man whose
flock was too small or who lives too
far from express service to permit
him to ship his eggs in the regular
commercial case which holds 80 dozen
eggs.
In the course Of these experiments
the Department shipped 9,l31 eggs in
466 lots. OF these 327 or slightly less
than S.6 per cent. were broken, but
only 209 or slightly less than 2.3 per
cent were absolutely wasted. The
others, though broken, could still be
used The percentage of Dreakage,
moreover, will be greatly reduced, it
is said, when the employees of the
Post Office become more accuctomed
to handling such fragile matter
That the eggs should be properly
packed is of course essential. This
implies time, care and some expense
and is one reason why no attempt
should be made to market by parcel
post any but the finest quality of eggs,
for they alone will bring remunera-
tive prices. Moreover, if the custom
err who buys in small lots finds that
any considerable proportion of his
purchases is undesirable or even I'M
attractive in appearance, he will not
trouble to ask for deductions on that
account; he will simply discontinue
his orders. The producer, therefore,
must see to it that all the eggs the
post-man delivers are what he repre-
sents them to be.
This can only be done by Gambling
them. Gambling, The process of test
ing eggs by passing light through
them so as to reveal the condition of
the contents" is omitted by many pro-
ducers who rely on care in collecting
to eliminate all bad eggs. 1t is, how
ever, impossible to avoid an occasional
accident and Gambling is therefore adj
visable as an extra precaution. A
simple outfit can be made out of a
small hand lamp and an ordinary
pastboard box sufficiently large to be
placed over the lamp, after the ends
have been removed, without risk of
fire. In order to supply air to the en-
closed lamp, notches should be cut in
the edge on which the box rests. A
round hole is then cut in the box at
the level of the lamp flame and the
Gambling done by holding each egg
against this hole while the rest of the
room is in darkness. The light from
the lamp reveals the contents Of the
egg and those that show any defect
can be rejected.
If possible only infertile eggs should
be sent to market. Fertile eggs de-
teriorate rapidly in warm weather
and are the cause of much loss. A
broody hen on the nest or accidental
exposure to a high temperature may
start incubation and cause the egg to
spoil and injure the shippers reputa-
ton. 1t is advisable, therefore, to
retain the fertile eggs for home use
or dispose Of them in some other way
than through the parcel post. This
is also true of soiled eggs. Eggs
should never be washed when intended
for high-class trade, since the process
removes natural mucilaginous coat
ing and opens the pores of the shell.
After this thorough elimination Of
the unfit, the eggs that remain should
be carefully packed in container of
corrugated pasteboard, metal, wood,
or other suitable material. The post
office regulations require this contain
err to be so wrapped that nothing can
escape from the package and each
egg in addition to be wrapped sep-
arately in excelsior, cotton, or some
such material. Any soft paper serves
the purpose quite well. AS for the
container itself, there are many kinds
on the market and the Department Of
investigators have not
attempted to decide which is the best
Instead they refer inquiries to the
various State experiment stations
which have available information on
this question.
In packing eggs it is well TO sort
them as far as is practical according
to size and color and TO keep for homo