EFFICIENCY OF COMMEECIAL EGG CANDLING. 



11 



EFFICIENCY OF CANDLING REJECTS. 



Just as the bad eggs found in eggs candled as good were studied 

 to determine the reason for their not being discovered, the good eggs 

 found in eggs candled as bad were subjected to critical tests to find 

 out why they were miscandled. In this work attention was directed 

 more to the characteristic appearance before the candle, than to the 

 condition found when breaking the egg out of the shell. The latter 

 method was resorted to only when there was doubt concerning the 

 quality of the egg as' ascertained by candling. 



To determine how many good eggs were placed with the bad eggs 

 and what the characteristics of these eggs were, 12,024 rejected eggs, 

 mbstly from inexperienced candlers, were critically recandled. 

 Among the bad eggs were found 19.9 per cent good eggs, divided be- 

 tween six main groups, namely, brown eggs, hatch-spot and weak 

 eggs, eggs with the yolk floa-ting near the shell, eggs with olive-green 

 yolks, good eggs with broken air cells, and good eggs included be- 

 cause of carelessness (Table 4). As the causes of error for the six 

 types of eggs are different, each will be discussed separately. 



Table 4.- 



-Kincls of good eggs in eggs candled as had and doubtful (determined 

 by recandling). 



12,024 eggs (33.4 cases) 

 candled as bad and 

 doubtful. 



. 1 per cent bad eggs. 



19.9 per cent good eggs. 



6.3 per cent eggs with brown shells. 



6.6 per cent heated eggs, including hatch-spot and weak 



eggs. 

 3.1 per cent eggs with the yolk floating near the shell. 



2.1 per cent eggs with olive-green yolks. 



1.4 per cent good eggs, probably due to carelessness. 



1.2 per cent eggs with movable air cells. 



0.2 per cent eggs with dirty shells, double yolks, and 

 leakers. 



GOOD EGGS IN REJECTS. 



BEOWN EGGS. 



Brown eggs constituted about one-third of the good eggs not de- 

 tected by candling (Table 4). The brown shell, in giving the egg 

 a general reddish color before the candle, reduces the contrast be- 

 tween the white and yolk. This difference is due to a. lesser degree 

 of transparency in the case of the eggs with brown shells. The 

 darker the color of the shell, the more difficult it is to judge the 

 condition of the contents. The bad eggs with which good eggs in 

 brown shells may be confused are mainly mixed and white rots, eggs 

 with slightly stuck yolks, blood rings, and eggs with blood in the 

 whites. A candle with a bright light and with an opening of the 

 proper size, so that no rays of light escape around the egg^ is a pre- 

 requisite for the satisfactory grading of these eggs. With a little 

 study and experience there should be small difficulty in detecting 

 any except those with extremely dark shells. An egg with a stained 

 shell is sometimes miscandled because the appearance before the 



