104 THE HOME’ PQULTRY BOOK 
ture, as it were, on a town lot, should produce a 
considerable larger number of eggs than the average 
family will use. On many days the hens should lay 
from 12 to 15 eggs, perhaps more. There is sure 
to be a good sale for these eggs at a very satisfactory 
price, if the poultry keeper cares to deliver them 
properly packed in egg boxes. Care should be 
taken to have them absolutely fresh, for a single 
bad egg is sufficient to ruin the seller's reputation 
as a reliable hen man. The parcel post offers an 
excellent way of shipping eggs to a few city cus- 
tomers. | 
It pays to put eggs of the same color and size in 
a box, as appearance counts for much. If an egg 
becomes dirty in the nest or afterwards, it should 
not be washed, but wiped with a damp cloth. Egg 
shells are porous. Clean nests are important be- 
cause an egg is moist when it is laid, so that dirt 
adheres to it. Many commuters have regular cus- 
tomers in the buildings where they are employed 
and the square, neatly wrapped parcels so often seen 
in the hands of incoming suburbanites spell, to the 
initiated, fresh eggs. 
