MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 



355 



the nest. As the egg cools, the contents contract and the 

 air cell or air space appears. The shell being porous, the 

 air space grows larger by evaporation all the time the egg 

 is kept, the evaporation being fast or slow according as the 

 temperature is high or low. Commercially an egg is fresh 

 though it shows a small air space. If properly kept, an 

 egg may taste perfectly fresh and pass in the market as a 



A FRESH EGG 

 Note small air space. 



A STALE EGG 



Note large air space, yolk settled to one 

 side, showing dark. 



fresh egg when a week old, or more. In some state laws 

 it is enacted that when an egg has been kept or stored thirty 

 days it is no longer a fresh egg. Kept under improper con- 

 ditions, however, an egg would not test as a fresh egg, when 

 two or three days old. The egg itself furnishes the evidence 

 as to its freshness. The fresh egg is good legal tender at 

 the country store, but when so used it should be treated as 

 counterfeit currency by the time it reaches the consumer. 



Marking Eggs. The trade-mark of the egg producer is 

 frequently stamped on the egg. This is easily and quickly 

 done with a small rubber stamp one-half an inch in diameter 



