CHAP, vm.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 187 



ever plan may be employed, should be done 

 as nearly as possible on the very day on which 

 the eggs were layed ; and that it is useless 

 to commence the process until some time in 

 the end of August, or the beginning of Sep- 

 tember, for, if begun sooner, the period which 

 must elapse before the end of January might, 

 probably, occasion the failure of the attempt. 

 May and June are, indeed, the months which 

 produce the greatest quantity of eggs, but 

 these should be either consumed in the family, 

 or disposed of to a neighbouring cheesemonger 

 in exchange for other articles, as it would be 

 too soon to put them by for winter use. We 

 commenced our operations in September, 

 upon eggs taken daily, warm from the hen ; 

 closed our trials on the 26th of the same 

 month, and tested them in the presence of a 

 lady, by boiling the eggs, on the 26th of 

 January — thus affording four clear months 

 for each experiment. The result being — that 

 neither those shut from the air by being 

 placed in bran, saw-dust, sand, or salt, nor 

 those immersed during periods in water, had 

 acquired any taint of either smell or taste to 

 prevent them from being used in cookery ; 



