THE EGG EXPORT ASSOCIATION 99 



for over two days I went about guaranteed as a 

 good egg. 



In the basement of the building are cement vats 

 filled with the strongest lime-water and, I think, some 

 other secret ingredients. Each of these vats contains 

 from 5000 to 7000 scores of 'pickled" or preserved 

 eggs. These are placed in the lime-water about 

 March and sometimes kept there for ten months, 

 when they are taken out, "candled" and sold. In 

 the year 19 10, 10,000 cases, each of which contained 

 1440 eggs, were thus laid down. At the time of my 

 visit these "pickled" eggs were fetching from 8s. to 

 9s. per long hundred, delivered free on board ship. 

 Like the fresh eggs, for the most part they go to 

 England. 



It occurred to me that the enormous weight of 

 all these thousands of eggs would cause them to 

 crush in the tanks, but it appears that the lime-water 

 gives them sufficient support to prevent this catas- 

 trophe. So at least I understood. 



This Copenhagen egg establishment is but one 

 of ten such packing-stations that are scattered over 

 Denmark. The manager informed me that the busi- 

 ness began in 1895 and was growing every year. 

 It started with little or no capital ; indeed farmers 

 had to wait four weeks to be paid for their eggs. 

 Now it has a reserve-fund of .15,000, which is 

 used as working capital. The central society settles 

 the price of the eggs, which is fixed at a figure 

 sufficient to clear a profit. In 1909 this profit 

 amounted to ,10,000, of which half was paid to the 

 local societies for distribution among their members, 

 while the other half has been placed to the reserve- 

 fund. This reserve fund, however, is not allowed 



