DETAILS OF PLAN FOR IMPROVEMENT. 17 



BROKEN EGGS. 



Many eggs are cracked or broken before reaching the packing house. 

 Those cracked only slightly, so that the egg contents do not leak out, 

 are known as ''checks." Those in which the egg contents are leaking 

 or have partial!} 7 leaked away are known as "leakers." Broken or 

 "checked" eggs depreciate rapidly and must, therefore, be separated 

 out and sold for immediate consumption at a reduced price or they 

 must be dried or broken out in cans and frozen. 



OTHER DETERIORATED EGGS. 



As eggs are very prone to take on the taste and odor of their sur- 

 roundings, a considerable number deteriorate in this respect. Tf 

 stored in damp cellars, they are likely to develop a musty flavor which 

 is practically impossible to detect without tasting. Other flavors 

 caused by storing with vegetables, such as onions, are common. 



METHODS USED FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE FARM EGG. 



In attacking this problem the bureau concentrated its efforts upon 

 those measures which were considered the most important and gave 

 promise of accomplishing the most good. The two main lines were : 

 First, the encouragement of the loss-off system of buying, and second, 

 a close and careful examination of the conditions surrounding the 

 marketing of eggs all the way from the producer to the packing house. 

 The State of Kansas was selected as a working base for three reasons: 

 First, the output of eggs is enormous, but the quality has usually been 

 low. Second, the. buyers of the State had already made at least one 

 attempt to enforce the loss-off system of buying, which indicated a 

 receptive spirit on their part. Third, the statutes of Kansas contain 

 provisions giving the State board of health abundant authority to 

 prevent the sale of bad eggs within the State. 



The first attempt, above alluded to, of enforcing the loss-off system 

 of buying failed because the buyers along the borders of the State met 

 competition from adjacent States where the case-count system was in 

 operation and. becoming discouraged, in self-defense resorted again 

 to the case-count system. The other buyers of the State in turn felt 

 compelled to return to the case-count basis, and the entire agreement 

 soon fell to pieces. 



ORGANIZATION OF BUYERS. 



The first step, therefore, was to get the buyers together. With 

 the cooperation of officers of the State board of health and the Kan- 

 sas State Agricultural College, a meeting of the Kansas Carlot 

 Egg Shippers' Association was held at Topeka on June 10. 1910. 



100717 Bull. 14111 3 



