Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-08-20

cipsion that the parcel post was of
particular value to the man whose
yfoek was too small or who lives too
far from express services to permit
him to ship his eggs in the regular
commercial case, which holds 80 doz-
en- eggs.
In the course of these experiments
the department shipped S,131 eggs in
t66 lots. OF these 327, or slightly less
than $50 per cent, were broken, but
OILY 2O9. or slightly less than 2.s per
cent were absolutely wasted. The
percentage of breakage, moreover, will
be greatly reduced, it is said, when the
employees Of the post ofice become
more accustomed to- handling such
fragile matter
That the eggs should be properly
packed. is Of course, essential. This
implies. care. and seine 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 purchases is unde-
sirable or even unattractiVs in app
pearance, he will not trouble to ask
fer deductions on that account, he will
simply discontinue his orders. The
producer, therefore, must see to it
that all the eggs the postman delivers
are what he represents 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
producers, who rely on care in col
lecting to eliminate all bad eggs. 1T
is. however, impossible to avoid an oc-
cssional accident, and Gambling is
therefore advisable as an extra pre-
caution. A simple outfit can be made,
out of small hand lamp and an ordi-
nary pasteboard 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
ir.closed lamp, notches should be cut
j in the edge on which the box rests,
A round hole is then cut in the box al
the level of the lamp flame and the
Gambling done by holding each egg
against this hole while the rest of tie
room is in darkness. The light from
the lamp reveals the contents of tie,
egg, and those that show any defect
can de rejected. - .t@%tzl,>99
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-
cidental 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 par
eel post. This is also true of soiled
eggs. Eggs should never be washed
when intended for high-class trade,
since the process removes a natural
mucilaginous coating and opens the
pores of the she'll
After this thorough elimination If
the unfit, the eggs that remain should
be carefully packed in a containel
Of corrugated pasteboard, metal, wood,
CT other suitable material. The posi- :
Office regulations require this con
tainer to be so wrapped that nothing
can escape from the package, and each
egg in addition to be wrapped separ
ately in excelsior, cotton, or some
such material. Any soft paper serves
the purpose quite we'll. AS for IT,
container itself, there are many kinds
on the market, and the Department of
Agriculture Investigators have not at
tempted to decide which is the best
Irstead they refer inquiries to t1e
various State experiment stations
which have available information on
this question.
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