6 



BULLETIN 224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



lessened because the cool air of the chilled breaking rooms prevented the formation 

 of water by condensation. D house and E house in 1912, because of adequate refrig- 

 eration, were not troubled with wet-shelled eggs. As would be expected, dirty eggs 

 through contact with the girls' fingers furnished more bacteria to the product, other 

 conditions being equal, than did clean eggs. It was also observed that the breaking 

 of eggs with hands constantly wet with egg not only made the skin tender and often- 

 times painfully sore, but also increased the number of bacteria in the product. This 

 condition parallels that obnoxious practice in the dairy industry of milking with wet 

 hands. The handling of the egg with the tips of the fingers, thereby preventing the 

 rest of the hand from becoming wet, and the frequent drying of the ends of the 

 fingers with tissue paper, not only made it possible for the girls to keep their hands 

 in good condition, but also presented a practical means of lessening contamination. 

 The bacteria furnished to the fingers by the outside of the egg were few compared 

 with those derived from the contents of an infected egg, such as a sour egg or egg 

 with a green white. Bacterial examination showed that the thorough washing and 

 drying of hands after breaking a bad egg was the only means of avoiding this con- 

 tamination. These findings are illustrated in Plate I, figure 4; Plate II, figures 2 

 and 3; and Plate III, figure 4. 



A very common practice was the use of rags, always unsightly, interchangeably for 

 wiping utensils, hands, and the floor. The bacterial examination of water wrung from 

 such cloths revealed hundreds of millions of organisms. These agents, instead of 

 cleaning, spread the dirt. The improvement in the manipulation of the egg, the 

 devising of an outfit suitable for breaking eggs, and the introduction of tissue paper 

 and paper towels for drying hands, practically abolished the use of cloths except for 

 cleaning the tables. These few cloths could readily be laundered, or sterilized, after 

 each day's work, so that they could be kept sweet and clean. These changes elimi- 

 nated a number of the sources of contamination of the product and did much to im- 

 prove the appearance of the breaking room as well. 



The introduction of pails in place of shipping cases to convey the eggs from the 

 candling to the breaking rooms eliminated considerable dust and litter. The devising 

 of a tray for the holding of leaking eggs made it possible to carry them to the breaking 

 room in a clean condition (see Plate VIII, figure 1; Plate IX, figure 1; and Plate 

 XIII, figure 2.) 



As can readily be seen from this discussion, the laboratory findings practically 

 revolutionized the apparatus used and the routine followed in the breaking room. 

 Instead of the haphazard collection of odd pieces of china, glass, and tin, there were 

 evolved machines accurately adapted to the work to be done; and the careless, incon- 

 sequent methods of cracking and emptying the shells were replaced by a standardized, 

 definite routine, making for both quality and efficiency. 



GRADING THE BREAKING STOCK BY CANDLING. 



The classes of eggs principally used for breaking were seconds, cracked, and dirty 

 eggs. It is to be expected that eggs sold for breaking stock would contain a higher 

 percentage of loss than would eggs sold as current receipts, and such, by actual obser- 

 vation, was found to be the case. Comparative data collected in D house showed, as 

 illustrated in Table 1, that from eggs purchased especially for breaking 6.6 per cent 

 of bad eggs were rejected in July and 10.6 per cent in August, whereas from its cur- 

 rent receipts only 3.5 per cent were discarded in July and only 3.1 per cent in August. 



Table 1. — Condensed candling reports of D house. 

 I. CURRENT RECEIPTS. 



Month. 



Total 

 receipts. 



Firsts, seconds, 

 checks. 



Bad eggs. 



June 



July 



August 



Total 



Dozen. 

 85,0S3f 

 53, 109^ 

 72,040§ 



Dozen. 

 83,730^ 

 51, 265| 

 69, 781$ 



210, 133| 



204, 777£ 



Per cent. 

 98.4 

 96.5 

 96.9 



Dozen. 

 1,353 J 

 1,843^ 

 2, 259 J 



97.4 



5, 456^ 



Per cent. 

 1.6 

 3.5 

 3.1 



2.6 



II. EGGS SHIPPED TO D HOUSE FOR BREAKING PURPOSES. 



Month. 



Total, 

 receipts. 



Seconds and checks, 

 good eggs. 



Bad eggs. 



July 



Dozen. 

 27, 024$ 

 27, 948i 



Dozen. 

 25,230 

 24, 953J 



Per cent. 

 93.4 

 89.3 



Dozen. 

 1,794* 

 2, 994* 



Per cent. 

 6.6 





10.6 









Total. 



54,972^ 



50,1835 



91.3 



4, 788| R- 7 







' * 







