2 BULLETIN 224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



A part of the problem facing the investigators was the conservation of eggs in the 

 form of a "wholesome, good-quality foodstuff. Waste due to spoilage begins on the 

 farm and increases with every step on the complicated road to the consumer. The 

 sooner, therefore, eggs unsuited for marketing in the shell can be removed from the 

 shell and rendered stable the more of them can be saved and the better, as a rule, 

 will be the quality of the product. It is scarcely possible that a system of handling 

 and distributing eggs ever will reach such perfection that the consuming centers will 

 fail to receive some eggs not marketable in the shell. Large centers will receive so 

 many such that it is eminently desirable that those good for food purposes be saved. 

 But, from the economic point of view, the industry should be primarily a producing- 

 region industry, that the expense of deterioration, transportation, and handling in the 

 market be saved. Of first importance, therefore, is the study of breakage conditions 

 in the producing country. 



This report is based on observations made in establishments scattered between 

 northwestern Iowa and central Kansas. The work began in the spring of 1911 and 

 was maintained during the egg-breaking season; that is, until early September. It 

 was continued, also, throughout the season of 1912 in the same territory. 



Through the cooperation of the industry it was possible to visit and become inti- 

 mately acquainted with the routine methods of many establishments, although the 

 experimental work could be carried on with comparatively few, because of the distance 

 between the houses and the laboratory and the size of the force of investigators re- 

 quired. During the season of 1911 five separate plants were studied in detail, and in 

 1912 three were kept under observation. 



An effort was made to keep the various establishments cooperating in touch with 

 the results obtained that improvement in the quality of the product might follow 

 quickly upon the heels of knowledge gained. So promptly did the industry avail 

 itself of these suggestions that the houses were constantly changing the material used, 

 the apparatus, and the methods of work. There was, therefore, a continued tendency 

 toward better environment and product, and each visit brought to light new phases 

 to be studied rather than existing conditions to be confirmed by repeated observations. 

 This rapid application of information tended to mar the scientific continuity of labora- 

 tory results, but since the object of the work was better frozen and dried eggs for the 

 people the progressive spirit of the cooperators was encouraged, not hindered. 



As the principles of cleanliness of apparatus, grading of eggs, discipline of breakers, 

 and other fundamentals of a product of standard quality were unfolded the scope of 

 the work broadened to take in the new problems presented. The industry found it 

 desirable to plan the construction of breaking rooms, wash rooms, candling and re- 

 ceiving rooms, the application of mechanical refrigeration to the work in hand, etc., 

 with the departmental investigators, that the principles of good handling might be 

 fulfilled. Such activities opened a field of work in the study of sanitary surround- 

 ings for the preparation of easily infected and readily perishable products. The con- 

 struction of suitable quarters for such work, therefore, forms an important part of this 

 report. 



It is highly desirable when investigating perishable commodities that they be traced 

 from the point of origin to the point of consumption. To do this for frozen and dried 

 eggs involves a study of the effect of long holding — since these products are almost 

 invariably kept to tide over the season of egg scarcity — and their routine usage by the 

 baker while in course of preparation for his products. It will be seen, therefore, that 

 a distinct and important link in the history of the frozen or dried eggs going to the 

 ultimate consumer must be sought outside of the packing house. Such a study in 

 cooperation with the bakers is under way, and will be reported in due time. This 

 report, however, deals with the industry in the packing houses of the West only. 



REVIEW OF THE EGG-BREAKING HOUSES AS SEEN IN 1911. 



The establishments discussed in the following pages were fair representatives of 

 the best types of egg-breaking plants in existence in the Middle West. The manage- 

 ment in every case was more than eager to prepare a good product and tried earnestly 

 to use to advantage all the information then available. A survey of the field of work 

 showed, however, that the principles of such cleanliness as is needed were not known 

 in the industry. The equipment was not adapted to the work to be done, making for 

 neither quality of product nor speed of operation. The rooms were so constructed 

 that more than housewifely cleanliness was impossible, and that was attained only by 

 an undue expenditure of time and labor. The grading by the breakers was in almost 

 all cases a hit-or-miss operation; where a Bystem of grading had been installed it was 

 faulty because of a lack of knowledge of the character of the individual eggs. Such a 

 state of affairs gave a product irregular in quality, which was not only a detriment to 

 the baker but often resulted in the waste of good eggs as well as a utilization of bad 

 eggs. Back of the faulty grading in the breaking room there was a universal lack of 



