The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-23
HOW TO INSURE A SUPPLY OF
 CHEAP EGGS FOR WINTER USE
The Housewife Should Lay in a Store Now, While Eggs Are Plentiful-Pres- ervatiOn in Water Glass Is a Simple, Reliable Treat ment for Home Use
By PROF. HARRY R. LEWIS

By PROF. HARRY R. LEWIS
 Department of Poultry Husbandry, New
 Jersey State College of Agriculture.
 Copyright, 1916.
 Eggs are scarce and consequently high
 in price during the winter, and they are
 abundant and cheap in the spring months The spring is the natural producing sea
 son. and weather conditions are such that
 all poultry flocks are laying heavily.
 The problem of the housewife is to se-
 cure eggs during the winter at a price
 that is reasonable, and there are but two ways to do this; either to buy cold stor-
 age eggs, or to preserve ones own sup
 ply at time when they are cheap. l Placing eggs in cold storage is prac- l tced extensively each year by large wholesale dealers. They buy eggs at from r to p cents per dozen in April, with the | idea that they will be sold during the period of high prices in November, De- cember and January. Such eggs are of good quality if properly stored and han died, but often the quality is question able by the time they reach the ultimate consumer. This practice of cold storage 1 is, however, a very material advantage to both producer and consumer for it acts as a balance regulating the supply and demand. If it were not for this supply of storage eggs in winter, the housewife could not buy eggs for any amount of money. Likewise, in the | spring, if it were not for the demand for | storage purposes, the producer would not find it profitable to ship his eggs be- cause the prices would be so low. The preservation of eggs for home use will do | much to insure quality at reasonable l prices.
 WATER GLASS PRESERVATION | Water glass, or sodium silicate, is probably the most satisfactory material 1 to use for home preservation. The only articles needed for this practice are as | follows: Stone or earthenware crooks, supply of sodium si,icate or water glass, and strictly fresh, good quality eggs. Earthenware crooks with covers, holding about four gallons each, can be secured at a cost of 70 cents each Crooks of this size will preserve about 10 dozen eggs each. Smaller crooks can be used 1 for smaller quantity of eggs, but there | is no advantage in having a smaller utensil, as the eggs can be taken as
 needed from the larger crock. and they can be preserved gradually, simply by
  are placed in the crock. Strictly fresh high grade eggs, however, are vital to | the success sof the work.
 SECURING EGGS TO PRESERVE The best plan is to arrange with some reliable poultryman to supply these eggs. If large numbers are to be preserved, they should be bought by the crate. It IS usually possible for number of families
 to cooperate and in this way secure an
 excellent supply at reasonable prices. Eggs can be secured by contract at about 2 cents per dozen in case lots
 during April A price of cents above wholesale quotations is usually made ii the poutryman is to produce infertile l eggs and guarantee clean, fresh, uniform eggs.
 INFERTILE EGGS ARE BEST Infertile eggs are superior to fertile ones for preserving, for a number of reasons; they do not hatch, nor will they ever contain a developed germ; they | withstand heat well and bear shipment with little danger of injury; they are slow to decay and are no more costly than fertile eggs
 When purchasing eggs for preserva ton, if infertile eggs are guaranteed the purchaser should break an egg or two and by examining the yolk one can be sure that the quality for which an extra
 
 | ness is one of the most important require
 ments. The age or freshness of the egg can be detected by candling and study ing the size of the air cell. Strictly fresh eggs suitable for preservation should con- tain air cells that are very small. The cell should not be more than one-half an inchr across, and not more than one- eighth of an inch in depth. Eggs which have large air cells, as determined by the candle. show that they have been held. and should not be used
 If the eggs are purchas sed by contract l from reliable party who has previously | candled them, 1t will not be necessary to candle them again before preservation. Candling takes but a few minutes, in l which both the freshness of the eggs as well as freedom from blood clots can be determined Strictly fresh eggs may oc- casionally contain blood clots, which are l due to slight ruptures in the ovduct while the eggs are being formed. These clots can be readily detected before the candle as the eggs will have red
 cloudy appearance. Such eggs should not 1 be preserved
 It does not pay to preserve poor eggs. l They not only take up room in the solu- ] ton which should be occupied by good l eggs, but they may go bad and spoil other eggs in the same container Only eggs which have clean shells should be | l De washed, as it opens up the pores in ! the shell and makes possible more rapid
 evaporation All eggs suitable for pre- serving should have hard, smooth shells | No cracked or thin-shelled eggs should 1 ever be placed in preserving solution; 1 they are apt to break and injure the ad-
 joining eggs
 MAKING PRESERVING SOLUTION 1 normal sodium silicate which is com
 nionly known as water glass can be pur- | chased from any drug store, the retail price being about 40 cents quart Where
 number of persons are cooperating this 1 material can be purchased from a whole sale drug house for much less
 In putting eggs down in a water glass
 solution, the following procedure should 1 De followed: The crooks should be ster-
 ilized with boiling water care being used
 to see that they are absolutely clean The preserving solution should be made up or nine parts of water which has been boiled and later cooled, and adding one l part Of water glass This mixture will | make 10 per cent solution, which is adequate to preserve the eggs for from | nlne months to year.
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