8 



BULLETIN 224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



rings, white rots, and eggs with yolk lightly stuck to shell were frequently miscandled. 

 Cracked eggs with moldy shells were not always detected by the candlers. 



This condition of affairs made it necessary that the breakers be able to recognize 

 all kinds of bad eggs, for upon them rested the final responsibility of eliminating bad 

 eggs from the finished product. It was, therefore, incumbent upon the foreman to 

 select well-qualified girls. If a breaker, for instance, did not have a delicate sense of 

 smell she would not be able to detect incipient forms of musty eggs, sour eggs, etc.; 

 or, if she were not quick of perception, she would not recognize eggs with light green 

 whites, etc. The importance of accurate grading is emphasized by the fact that one 

 musty egg would spoil over 30 pounds of liquid egg, worth at least $5. If, on the other 

 hand, she threw away eggs fit for food purposes, she incurred a financial loss to the 

 company. 



The preservation of strict order among the breakers was a matter of importance. 

 If a girl, for instance, gossiped with her neighbor, she not only broke fewer eggs but 

 her grading suffered. If she chewed gum she blunted her sense of smell. In order 

 to encourage good steady work and at the same time give the girls a rest from the con- 

 tinuous breaking of eggs, which involves constant attention and the repeated use of 

 the same muscles, they were given, in addition to the noon hour, a recess of about 

 15 minutes in the middle of each half day. They were allowed to go out of the room, 

 move about, and to converse freely. Such relaxation enabled the girls to do more 

 and better work. 



SPEED OF BREAKING. 



After the routine of 1912 had become well established observations were made of 

 the time required to take the necessary steps to break and grade an egg and also of 

 the average number of eggs broken per minute, and during longer intervals of time. 

 The results may be summarized as follows: 



The speed of breaking depends upon the breaker, the quality of the eggs, and the 

 character and arrangement of the equipment. The split-second timer showed that 

 the successive motions made by the best breakers were as rythmic as those of a machine. 

 The number of eggs broken per minute averaged from 12 to 16, or from 12 to 16 cases 

 of 30 dozen eggs each per working-day of 10 hours. These figures refer to the breaking 

 of eggs without separating into white and yolk. The breakers at E house were the 

 swiftest, those of F house slightly slower, and those at D house the slowest. 



6,000,000 



%X 4,000,000 



<l! 2,000,000 



4TH. 



so. 

 aULr 



/ST, ZO.&3D. 

 WE£K */££*" 

 AUGUST AUGUST 



Fig. 1.— Diagram showing the seasonal variation in the bacterial content of the commercial product 



of E house in 1912. 



In E house the pails of eggs, the breaking outfit, the chute for the shells, and the 

 container for the liquid product were so arranged that the motions required to break 

 an egg were minimized and were all in one direction. In F house half of the force 

 worked left-handedly because the egg supply was contained in egg cases. The case 

 would be right-handed for one girl and left-handed for the girl working opposite. It 

 took longer to remove eggs from cases, particularly if they were in fillers, than it did 

 from pails. In D house the breakers dropped the shells into a container on the floor at 

 the side instead of into a hopper directly in front. The former was slower. These 

 small differences mean but a few tenths of a second for each egg broken, but aggre- 

 gate minutes and hours when the whole working-day is taken into consideration. 

 Other factors being eliminated, it was found that a girl working from left to right could 

 break over 40 dozen more eggs per day than if she worked in the opposite direction. 



