PREPARATION OF FROZEN AND DRIED EGGS. 



9 



It was also observed that the arm could empty cups more quickly than the nose 

 could notify the brain of the odor of the contents. For example, a breaker may be 

 surprised to find that she has put a "light must" or a "beginning sour" into the con- 

 tainer for good eggs before her mind has apprised her of the character of the egg. 

 For this reason a limit should be set to the number of eggs broken in a given time. 

 Though the girls were not paid according to the quantity of work accomplished, there 

 was an inherent tendency for some to break very rapidly. The supervisor should 

 make it as much of a point to slacken the pace of these workers as to hurry those who 

 are slow. With the present equipment and methods a girl should not break more 

 than 16 eggs per minute, and if the breaking stock contains many bad eggs the limit 

 should be reduced to 12. 



SEASONAL VARIATION IN QUALITY OF PRODUCT. 



The practical man is familiar with the seasonal variation in the quality of the egg 

 supply. His knowledge is more often confined to the differences in the condition of 

 the eggs in the shell than to that of the frozen and dried products. Since the latter, 

 in the houses under observation, were prepared from eggs which were graded by the 

 senses as fit for food purposes, this is to be expected since small differences in quality 

 can only be detected by careful laboratory procedures. 



In order to determine what part weather conditions played in the ultimate product, 

 samples were taken systematically in two houses during the season of 1912. 



Table 2. — Seasonal variation in bacterial content of commercial samples of mixed egg. 



(D house, 1912.) 



Period of sampling. 



Number 



of 

 samples. 



Average 

 number of 



bacteria 

 per gram. 



Ammoniacal nitrogen 

 (Folin method). 



Average 

 atmos- 

 pheric tem- 

 perature 

 prevailing 

 15 days 

 before 

 sampling. 



Wet basis. 



Dry basis. 



4 

 11 

 4 

 5 

 10 

 3 

 7 



640, 000 



660, 000 



570,000 



650, 000 



1,400,000 



1, 500, 000 



1,700,000 



Per cent. 



Per cent. 



"F. 

 79 

 83 

 74 

 83 

 93 

 87 

 87 



0.0018 

 .0020 

 .0022 

 .0022 

 .0020 

 .0021 



0.0061 

 .0067 

 .0072 

 .0070 

 .0065 

 .0068 



Rainfall 

 during the 



15 days 

 previous to 

 sampling. 



May 27 to 29. 

 Junel to 15. 

 June 17 to 27 

 July 1 to 12.. 

 July 16 to 31. 

 Aug. 10 to 13 

 Aug. 19 to 23 



Inches. 



0.05 

 .42 



2.78 

 .12 

 .80 



2.88 



3.97 



These studies show that there is a tendency for the bacterial count and the amount 

 of ammoniacal nitrogen to increase as the egg-breaking season progresses (see Tables 

 2 and E-IV, appendix, and figure 1). 



CLASSES OF EGGS PRESENTING SPECIAL PROBLEMS. 



LEAKING EGGS. 



Eggs with shell and inner membranes broken are termed "leakers" by the trade. 

 There are all gradations, from the egg which has lost very little of its contents to the 

 egg which has practically nothing left in its shell but the yolk. 



During periods of the year when receipts are low and the number of leakers conse- 

 quently few, they are commonly sold in the shell to near-by consumers and employees 

 of the packing house. In the season of heavy receipts, when there are more leakers 

 than can be used locally, they are either thrown out with the rots or broken out and 

 frozen. The second method of disposal is the one concerned in this investigation. 



Formerly if the leakers were to be conserved for food purposes, the candlers sorted 

 these eggs from receipts as they worked and either broke them immediately into a 

 container near by or placed them in pans or pails to be opened in another room. 

 Neither method was satisfactory. If the eggs were opened in a dark candling room 

 they could only be graded in the shell, which was insufficient. Then, too, it was 

 impossible to break eggs under sanitary conditions in a candling room. On the other 

 hand, if the leakers were placed in pails, the damage to the shell was increased, and 



