THE CUBA R E VI EW 



25 



An Orange Plantation in Cuba under American management. 



AGRICULTURAL MATTERS. 



A. New Method of Egg Preservation — Sweet Potatoes from Vine Cuttings — Avo- 

 cados by Budding — Caravonica Cotton, etc. 



A New Method of Egg Preservation. 



An interesting method of preserving 

 fresh eggs by means of desiccation, has 

 lately been put' in operation in Sydney, 

 New South Wales, according to the 

 February Consular reports of the 

 United States. 



The process is a simple one. Eggs, 

 freed from the shells, are dried at the 

 relatively low temperature of 54.5° C. 

 (130° F.) in containers kept at this tem- 

 perature, from which the air has been 

 exhausted. 



The advantage of this method con- 

 sists in the fact that there is no altera- 

 tion in the chemical composition of the 

 eggs. There is simply a loss of the 

 greater part of the water held mechan- 

 ically in combination, as when fruit is 

 dried by air and sun, or by more rapid 

 artificial methods. When thoroughly 

 desiccated and brought by pulverization 



into the state of coarse powder, the egg 

 material can be preserved for an indef- 

 inite period in ordinary packages, if 

 kept in a dry place. 



The eggs are "reconstituted" by the 

 simple addition of water to the dry 

 powder, the resultant mass being quite 

 indistinguishable from newly beaten-up 

 eggs. Exhaustive critical tests by the 

 Victorian Department of Agriculture, 

 demonstrated that purity, ease of diges- 

 tion, flavor, etc., were entirely unaffect- 

 ed by the operations, preservation for 

 a long period, and reconstitution by the 

 addition of water, provided that fresh 

 eggs were employed at the outset. 



The cost of eggs as an article of food 

 can thus be notably reduced, and freight 

 rates low for a compact powdered ma- 

 terial as contrasted with the expense of 

 transporting eggs in the shell. The 

 simplicity of preservation and the va- 



