84 



KGGS IN COLD STORAGE. 



Excelsior 



TS. 



cork shaving-s 

 for cushion. 



Packing- eggs 

 in oats. 



carry in shipping-, is generally either excelsior, which 

 is finely shaved wood, usually basswood, or the chips 

 made in the manufacture of corks, known as cork 

 shaving's. The big- cold storages recommend cork 

 now in preference to the best excelsior. Here again 

 comes a question of dryness. If the excelsior has 

 been in stock for a year and stored in a dry place it is 

 to be preferred to cork shavings, otherwise cork is the 

 best, because we know cork is always dry. Cork 

 makes a very poor cushion as compared to excelsior; 

 it is liable to shift in the case, leaving one side without 

 protection. As a matter of cost too, cork is much 

 more expensive than excelsior. A company known 

 to the writer manufacture a beautiful grade of bass- 

 wood excelsior, which is always fairly dry when re- 

 ceived, and makes as fine a cushion for protecting the 

 eggs as can be desired. If people want cork in 

 their cases they can have it by paying the price, but 

 dry, seasoned, fine- basswood excelsior is better, for 

 reasons stated. 



Eggs have been packed in oats for years, but the 

 practice has gradually fallen off, as eggs stored in 

 cases from the best cold storage houses have been im- 

 proved in quality from year to year. Oats, if dry, 

 will absorb moisture from the egg quite rapidly, and 

 are objectionable on this account. If the oats are not 

 dry the germs of mold are developed rapidly, and as 

 the moisture is given off by the eggs, the mold will 

 grow, causing the eggs to become "musty." There- 

 fore the main difficulty in using oats as packing for 

 eggs in cold storage is to have them at the correct de- 

 gree of dryness. It is almost impossible to have them 

 in the same condition at all times. Oats have also been 

 used in cases inside the fillers, that is, the layers of 

 eggs are first put into the filler; then the oats are sifted 

 into the spaces around the eggs flush with the top of 

 the filler. This is repeated through the whole case; 

 all the space in the case not occupied by the eggs 



