360 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



therefore, tends to raise prices during the season of heavy 

 production, but the tendency is in the opposite direction 

 in the season when there is a deficiency in the supply. 



The Refrigerator Egg. The keeping of eggs at a steady 

 low temperature is the most successful known method of 

 preserving eggs. The best temperature for cold storage is 

 29 to 30 degrees. The principle of cold storage is that 

 bacterial action, which causes decomposition or deteriora- 

 tion of the egg, does not take place at this temperature. The 

 colder the eggs are kept without freezing the better. Fresh 

 eggs of good quality may be kept at a temperature of 28 

 degrees, while those that are not perfectly fresh require a 

 temperature of 30 to 32 degrees for best results. A steady 

 temperature with a free circulation of air is absolutely 

 necessary in the storage room. The eggs are stored in 

 clean, odorless crates holding 30 dozen. 



It is not possible to detect by candling any difference be- 

 tween a storage egg and a fresh one. There is a slight 

 evaporation of the contents of the stored egg, but a fresh 

 egg that has been laid for several days may show the same 

 amount of air space. In a case lot of eggs as it is taken 

 from storage, evidence of storage may be found in a slight 

 mold which will show in cracked eggs. 



The success of storage depends very largely upon the 

 quality of the egg when it goes into storage. Storage does 

 not absolutely prevent deterioration of the egg, it checks it. 

 Under the best of conditions it is not as good as a fresh egg, 

 but under proper conditions storage eggs are better than a 

 great many fresh eggs that go to market during the warm 

 months. An egg may technically be fresh and yet not be 

 a good egg. Storage men have learned by dear experience 

 that the early spring egg, the April egg in most sections, 

 is the best for storage purposes. 



Eggs laid in March, April and May and stored then are 



