^2 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



given, we should state tliat our attention was first called specially to the subject by a most 

 intelligent lady who advocated this plan, alleging as the probable reason of its superiority, 

 " Keeping eggs on the small end appears to me to cause the air-bubble to spread, detaching 

 it from the shell, or, rather, from its membranous lining; and after being so kept for a fortnight, 

 the air-bubble will be found to be much spread, and the egg to have lost much vitality, though 

 still very good for eating." She then described her success the other way, adding, " Owing to 

 this method of storing, such a thing as a stale ^^^ has never been known in my house ; and 

 as regards success in hatching, for several seasons, when I was able to attend to my poultry 

 myself, of many broods set, every &^^ produced a chick." We were by no means hasty in 

 adopting or recommending this plan ; but, after careful observation and comparison for two 

 seasons, have proved indisputably that both for eating or setting, eggs do keep much better 

 the large end down. There is after a week a marked difference in eggs kept in the two positions 

 as regards the spreading of the air-bubble, which is well known to affect both the freshness 

 for eating and vitality for setting of stored eggs, and after three weeks the difference can 

 be discerned even by the taste alone. It will, of course, matter little which mode is adopted, 

 provided the eggs are used for either purpose within a short time ; but the longer kept the 

 more the difference from the two positions increases : and, while eggs stored with the small end 

 down cannot be depended upon after a fortnight to produce more than a proportion of chickens, 

 those kept in the way we now advocate will keep perfectly good for hatching a month or even 

 more. \Vc have sent thirty dark ]5rahma eggs to Ohio, U.S., which were twenty-two days on the 

 road, yet they produced eighteen strong, lively chickens, or sixty per cent,, though the eggs must 

 have been nearly a month old. We ought however to add that, as already observed, we based 

 our change of plan not on any single instance, however striking, but on systematic trial for two 

 seasons. During each of these seasons we sent out about forty sittings (of ten each) dark 

 Brahma eggs, and we satisfied ourselves most fully that with the ordinary age of eggs thus sold 

 by English fanciers, say from three to thirteen days, the difference in favour of eggs stored the 

 large end down amounted to nearly five per cent. This may not be much ; but, as already 

 remarked, with age it increases : and we have proved as conclusively, by actual trial, that eggs 

 may be set and successfully hatched with remarkable uniformity, at ages which, kept in the usual 

 method, would be nearly hopeless. We have known eggs kept a month hatch fairly even on the 

 old system ; but we are now speaking of usual and average results, and simply place at the service 

 of fanciers in general the results of patient trial which have abundantly satisfied ourselves 

 that there is a real difference in the product of the two positions.* With regard to packing, 

 so far as actual injury is concerned, we believe there is no difference whatever in the two ways; 

 biii if the journey occupy any time the same position should be maintained for similar reasons. 



There is not the slightest difficulty in packing eggs for setting so as to go with perfect 

 safety any ordinary journey, and various methods are preferred by different fanciers. One very 

 commonly employed, on account of the little trouble it gives, is to bed the eggs in bran in 

 a wooden box; but this is not safe except for very short journeys, the bran settling down 

 and often bringing the eggs to the sides or bottorn of the box, where they get injured, even if not 

 actually broken. This is easily prevented as follows : — Put a layer of bran an inch thick in 

 the bottom, and cover with a sheet of paper, which will effectually prevent the eggs coming to 



• It is only fair to him to'stale that^in his pamph'et on " Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of View," Mr. Geyelin 

 advocated theoretically the same position for storing eggs ; but the numerous absurdities in the other parts of his brochure deterred 

 every one from paying much attention to this recommendation : and it was only the positive statement as to actual comparative results 

 sent us by the lady alluded to which led us to devote serious experiment to the subject, with the result we have stated. 



