The Sentinel=record., 1914-06-14
SHIPMENT OF EGGS
 BY PARCELS POST
SYSTEM OF MARKETING THAT OF FERs NEW POSSIBILITIES AND
 WILL LOWER PRICES.
Also Means More Fresh Eggs for Con
 and Encourages the Plan.

can be marketed successfully by par
 eel post and that this method ire quently secures a better price for the producer and a fresher articIe for the consumer has now been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the experts ill the United States Department of Agrl- culture The Department conducted tests that covered a period of five
 months. At the end nf that period 1t came to 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 30 dozen eggs.
 In the course of these experiments the department shopped 9,131 eggs in
 i66 lots. Of these 327 or slightly less than 3.6 per cent were broken, but only 209 or slightly less than 23 per cent were absolutely wasted. The per |centage of breakage, moreover, will be greatly reduced, it is said, when the employees of the p0stoffice become more accustomed 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 remunerative prices. Moreover, if the customer who buys in small lots finds that any considerable proportion of his puf- chases is undesirable or even unat, tractive in appearance, he will not l trouble to ask for deductions on that lacocunt; he will simply discontinue his orders. The producer, therefore,
 must see to it that all the eggs the postman delivers are what he repre-. sents them to be.
 This can only be done by canding them. Candling, "The process of test ing eggs by passing light through them so as to reveal the condition of the oontents,' is omitted by many producers who rely on care in collect ing to eliminate all bad eggs It is, however impossible to avoid an occa- sional accident and candling is there fore advisable to avoid an occasional accident and candliag is therefore ad-
 visable as an extra precaution. A sim pIn nTiffIt hn fF n
 hand lamp and an ordinary pasteboard
 box sufficiently large to be D laced over
 the lamp, after the ends have been
 removed, without risk of fire. In or
 der to supply air to the enclosed
 lamp, n0tches 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 cand-
 ling 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 shcw and defect can
 be rejected
 If possible only infertile eggs should be sent to market. Fertile eggs deteriorate rapidly in warm
 weather and are the cause of much loss. A broody hen on the nest or ac- cidentaI exposure to a high tempera- ture may start incubation and cause the egg to spoil and injure the ship- per's reputation It is advisable,
 therefore, to retain the fertile eggs
 for home use or dispose of them in some other way than through the mar eel post. This is also true of soiled
 eggs. Eggs should never be washed
 when intended for nigh class trade since the process removes a natural
 mucilaginous coating and opens the pores of the shell.
 After this thorough elimination of the unfit, the eggs that remain should
 he carefully packed in a container f corrugated pasteboard, metal, wood or other suitable material The postoffice regulations require this contaner t. be so wrapped that nothing can es- cape from the package and each egg ia addition to be wrapped separately in excelsior, cotton, or some such
 material. Any soft paper serves the | purpose quite well. As for the con
 tainer itself, there are many. kinds on
 the market and the department of az
 ricu!ture investigators have not at- | tempted to decide which is the best Instead they refer inquirers to the ivaricus state experiment stations
 which have available information on
 this subject.
 Il packing eggs it is well to sort
 them as far as is practicable accord
 ing to size and color and to keep fol
 home use those which are irregular
 tn shape, unusually long or thin Ashelled. Containers that have beer