592 



butter will also keep it for a short time, or any application which 

 effectively seals the pores of the shell and excludes air will prolong 

 the freshness of eggs. If it is even momentarily submerged in 

 boiling water, the albumen thereby becomes sufficiently coagulated 

 to prevent the entrance of air. In some of the rural parts of this 

 country eggs for home consumption are smutted over with a mixture 

 of sulphur and lampblack, a cheap and effective preservative ". 



BEAR, W. E. Importation of Eggs in England. The Journal 

 of the Roy. Agriculttiral Soc. of England, vol. LXX, 157, London, 

 1909. 



Russia is reported as supplying England with nearly twice as many 

 eggs as any other country. Denmark stands next, followed by Ger- 

 many, Belgium, and France. These five countries make up between 

 two-thirds and three-fourths of the immense total of over eighteen 

 million great hundreds (of 120) that England imports in a year. 

 The total had long been increasing almost every year up to 1904, 

 since which date there has been a reduction. The prices paid for 

 imported eggs would not be remunerative to home producers, and 

 it seems impossible that their production in such countries as France 

 and Germany, where corn is dearer than in England, can leave any 

 profit upon their sale. The average imported price in 1904 was 

 is. for over eighteen eggs, and all the expenses of collection and 

 transport, as well as the foreign dealer's profit, have to be deducted. 

 The price has risen since the year named, but no higher than is. 

 for fifteen and sixteen and probably less than 15-. for twenty is paid 

 to the producers. It may be supposed that they feed their hens 

 chiefly upon tail corn and house scraps, and that they have no 

 idea of the cost of production. Eggs are among the few farm 

 products that have risen rather than fallen in price in England 

 since the time of agricultural prosperity. 



Imports of Eggs into Great Britain 1909. -Journal Board of 

 Agric., London, Jan., 1910, p. 842. 



An interesting feature in the egg trade is that the imports 

 have now been for five years below the figures reached in 1903 

 and 1904, and this may possibly indicate that with the exten- 

 sion of poultry-keeping in this country a greater portion of the 

 supply is being provided from our home resources. 



