QQQ Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



Eggs in Cold Storage- 



The 3^ear just closed has been a banner year for eggs in cold 

 storage, and more money has been made by the holders than in any 

 previous year since the establishment of refrigeration for the care of 

 perishable products. From April last and during the summer, about 

 4,000,000 cases of eggs of 30 dozens each have gone into the cold 

 rooms, and, although the price paid was higher than ever before, the 

 profits have been phenomenal. The poultry industry in this country is 

 hardly appreciated as to its enormous proportions by the general 

 public. It is estimated that the poultry and eggs produced annually 

 in the United States are of greater value than all the gold and silver 

 mined in the world during the same period. The latest table gives 

 the value of fowls on the farms at £1,715,880. The number of 

 chickens is estimated at 250,000,000. The market value in one year 

 is £27,200,000. The eggs produced are worth £28,800,000 giving a 

 total valuation of £56,000,000 which represents an income of 400 per 

 cent, on a similar investment. The incubators have been worked 

 overtime to provide poultry for the market, and the hen has devoted 

 her time to the production of eggs for the incubators, and to supply 

 the ever increasing consumption. It is estimated that in one year 

 there have been produced on the farm 43,127,000 cases of eggs of 

 30 dozens each. It is further estimated that 60,000,000 cases of eggs 

 were produced in this country during the last year, and that there has 

 been for 20 years an annual increase of more than 5 per cent., with a 

 prospect of a, still greater percentage during 1904. Cold storage is 

 responsible for this enormous production and consumption of eggs, 

 and the methods of handling and storing are continually being 

 improved. The charges for storage may be given as an average of 

 15 ceffits per month per case of 30 dozen eggs. January 1st is 

 considered to be the end of the egg storage season, and goods carried 

 after that date have heretofore been held at a loss. This last year there 

 was practically no stock left in the coolers on January 1st. Under 

 these conditions the price of eggs has been abnormally high, and it 

 remained for far-distant Russia to break the market. This was done 

 last week, when 450 cases of eggs arrived from Hamburg, where 

 they had been held in cold storage, having originally come 

 from Russia. The severe cold weather in the South has greatly 

 delayed the supply of eggs, which is generally in evidence after the 

 1st January, and although a train load was started for New York 

 during the recent cold snap, the goods were badly frozen before 

 arriving at their destination. — Ice and Cold Storage. {R. Crowe). 



Prussic Acid in Sorghum. 



Sorghum has long been suspected of possessing poisonous pro- 

 perties when fed to cattle in an immature state. Recent researches 

 by Dunstan and Henry {Imperial Institute Re-port, 1903) show that 

 prussic acid is formed in the plants in the early stages of growth, but 

 that the quantity becomes lessened as maturity approaches until, with 

 the ripening of the seed, it disappears entirely. Many farmers have 



