12 



BULLETIN 224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Table 5. — Summary of laboratory results on leaking eggs, tray method of handling, 



1912— Continued. 



II. CHEMICAL DATA. 





Num- 

 ber of 

 sam- 

 ples. 



Percentage of ammoniacal nitrogen. 



Percentage of moisture. 



House. 



* Wet basis. 



Dry basis. 



Mini- 

 mum. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Aver- 

 age. 





Mini- 

 mum. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Aver- 

 age. 



Mini- 

 mum. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Aver- 

 age. 



D 



13 

 11 

 13 



0. 0013 

 .0020 

 .0015 



0. 0022 

 .0028 

 .0028 



0. 0017 

 .0023 

 .0020 



0.0047 

 .0066 

 .0049 



0.0076 

 .0079 

 .0080 



0. 0058 

 .0074 

 .0065 



69.07 

 64.12 

 65.59 



72.83 

 70.60 

 71.42 



71.18 



E 



68.16 



F 



69.33 







The bacterial counts and the percentages of ammoniacal nitrogen of samples of 

 good quality leaking eggs handled by the tray method, broken in a cleanly manner and 

 graded carefully, were no greater than those found in synchronous samples of seconds, 

 dirty, or cracked eggs. 



Samples with high bacterial counts and, in some cases, with high percentages of 

 ammoniacal nitrogen are grouped in Table 6. In most instances these results could 

 be traced to poor grading during breaking or to low-grade receipts from which the 

 leaking eggs were sorted. 



Table 6. — Commercial samples of low quality, leaking eggs, tray method, 1912. 



Sam- 

 ple 



Source. 



Date of 

 collec- 

 tion. 



Bacteria per gram 

 on plain agar in- 

 cubated at— 



Gas-pro- 

 ducing 

 bacteria 

 per gram 

 in lactose 

 bile. 



Lique- 

 fying 

 organisms 

 per gram. 



Ammoniacal 



nitrogen (Folin 



method). 



Moist- 

 ure. 



Size 

 of 

 sam- 

 ple. 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 



No. 



20° C. 



37° C. 



Wet 



basis. 



Dry 



basis. 



dis- 

 cards. 



4503.. 

 4526. . 

 4737.. 



F-3... 

 F-3... 

 E-5... 

 D-5... 

 D-5... 



June 11 

 June 12 

 July 13 

 July 29 

 ...do 



4,900,000 

 19,000,000 

 36,000,000 

 14,000,000 

 20,000,000 



3,300,000 

 15,000,000 



3,000,000 

 19,000,000 

 67,000,000 



10,000 



100,000 



10, 000 



10,000 



100,000 



1,800,000 

 800,000 



Per ct. 

 0. 0022 

 .0021 

 .0029 

 .0019 

 .0019 



Per ct. 

 0. 0074 

 .0068 

 .0105 

 .0064 

 .0065 



Per ct. 

 70.13 

 69.18 

 72.43 

 70.43 

 70.58 



Doz. 



6 

 6 

 24 

 6 

 6 



4 

 53 



4858.. 





16 



4859. . 





9 









The amount of moisture averaged 71.18 per cent in the 13 samples of leaking eggs 

 taken at D house, 68.16 per cent in the 11 samples taken at E house, and 69.33 per cent 

 in the 15 taken at F house. These figures were lower than those found when cracked 

 or whole eggs were examined, due to the fact that some of the white, which contains 

 considerably more water than the yolk, had been lost. 



SOFT EGGS. 



Eggs which are not separable into white and yolk are termed soft eggs in this 

 report. This egg is illustrated in Plate XIV. It may have a whole yolk before the 

 candle, but may be ruptured during the process of breaking. 



Thirteen samples of soft eggs were taken, in which there was observed a consider- 

 able variation in both the bacterial content and the amount of ammoniacal nitrogen. 

 For example, 53.8 per cent of the samples contained less than 5,000,000 bacteria per 

 gram, and 46.2 per cent, between 6,100,000 and 80,000,000 per gram. (See Table 

 F-VIII, Appendix.) 



The samples with counts under 5,000,000 contained an average of 0.0021 per cent 

 of ammoniacal nitrogen on the wet basis and 0.0074 per cent on the water-free basis; 

 those with counts over 5,000,000 showed an average of 0.0026 per cent on the wet 

 basis and of 0.0086 per cent on the water-free basis. The average amount of loosely- 

 bound nitrogen in the samples of soft egg, with counts under 5,000,000 per gram, is 

 practically the same as that found in samples of whole egg which could be separated 

 into white and yolk. 



