The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-09-23

protect the chick from harm. If shipped as soon
as dried off, no food will be required, for a chicken
needs nothing to eat for the first two days Of
its existence after leaving the shell, being nour-
ished by the yolk of the egg which it has absorbed.
For that reason, people who complain that the
practice of Withholding food is cruel are wasting
their sympathies.
To just what extent these new developments
will revolutionize the poultry business of the
country, no one can safely even guess. 1t is GER
tain, though, that hundreds of people who for
merly raised a few chicks each season with hens
will now either send their Matching eggs to Il Gus
tom hatchery or buy day-oId chicks. The expense
is but little greater and hours of fussing with
brOOdy hens are eliminated. People living in the
cities may now keep hens in the back yard, for
they will need no roosters and thus avoid the COM
plants of neighbors, and can keep breeds which
do not get broody.
One thing is certain, though. If the egg pro-
ducers are going to make the most of their OPP
pOrtunittes, many of them will have to reform
their methods. The statement is made, apparently
with authority, that there is an annual loss of
S40,OOO,OOO because of the improper handling Of
eggs. Much of this loss can be traced directly to
the producers-the men and women on the farms.
Such facts are responsible in part for the present
much-discussed high cost of living.
Many farmers let their eggs accumulate until
they get a basketful, although it may take several
weeks. Fertile and ~infertile eggs are dumped in
TIT SilHe lOl. Il Il Huuen nest Is discovered. the
old hen is shooed away and the half-incubated
eggs are sold along with the others. This is the
reason why the average market egg is unreliable.
Incubation has begun in a fertile egg before it is
laid. In q few days traces of the embryo may
easily be discovered, even though the egg simply
be Kept in n warm room or allowed to remain in
the sun. Ordinarily the germ soon perishes, and
then the egg is quickly added to the rotten-egg
class. An unfertile egg may be kept for many
weeks without going bad, although it may get
somewhat stale and consequently unfit for the
table.
Under the present system, the customer is pro-
tected to a large extent by the big egg merchants,
who examine the eggs which pass through thell
hands by means of a test known as candling. This
Gambling is a highly important part Of the business
In most cities, and on the care and expertness
with which the work is done depends the quality of
the product which the customer secures. The men
who candle eggs become remarkably expert-so
expert that they can handle two eggs in each hand
and grade them Mt a glance as they are passed
quickly before a hole in Il tin shade placed before
a strong electric light.
Eggs from 1ocks which contain no male bird
except in the breeding season will keep longer and
be better than those laid by hens with which n
rooster is running. Many people still hold to the
antiquatcd belief that hens lay better If attended
by a rooster. This is a pure fallacy. In point
of fact, the ROSTERS annoy the hens, and may