PREPARATION OP FROZEN AND DRIED EGGS. 59 



10. Cleaning after a bad egg. — Remove all pieces of apparatus with which the egg 

 has come in contact and wash hands before getting clean equipment. For instance, 

 if the infected egg has reached the cup, a recently sterilized knife and cup will be 

 required, or, if the egg spattered on the tray, the entire outfit will have to be replaced. 

 When a bad egg is present in the cup with good ones, all must be thrown away. Spoon- 

 ing or pouring out what can be seen of a bad egg is not allowed. 



11. Have cups, knives, trays, churn, and collecting buckets washed and sterilized 

 at noon and again at night. 



12. Never break eggs while the room is being swept or for one hour afterwards. 



The girls, eight in number, were apt, intelligent, and desirous of learning the under- 

 lying principles involved in the preparation of clean, wholesome canned eggs. Their 

 work at this time was good except in one detail — they were not washing hands after 

 every discarded egg, an excusable omission, because they had to go through two 

 doors to get to running water. This inconvenience was obviated when the sanitary 

 washbowl was installed. 



A few minor pieces had been added to the list of breaking equipment. For ex- 

 ample, screens for the bottom of the egg pails; racks for the handling of the cups in 

 and out of the sterilizer, etc. ; and two removable shelves under each breaking stand, 

 one for clean cups and knives and the other for the same when dirty. 



The sanitary conditions in the breaking room were excellent. Laboratory tests 

 showed that all the utensils, after sterilizing according to the regular routine, were 

 sterile and that the ^ir was practically free from bacteria. The latter was controlled 

 by fumigating the room once a week with formaldehyde and potassium permanganate. 



This house began to break eggs about April 10. On April 17 three samples from 

 checked eggs were taken. Their bacterial examination showed, as given in Tables 

 D-II and D-III (Appendix, pp. 96 and 98), under this date, the exceptionally low 

 count of 5,100, 100, and 200 organisms per gram for mixed egg, white, and yolk, respec- 

 tively; and no B. coli in the sample of white and only 100 in the other two samples. 

 The amount of ammoniacal nitrogen for the three specimens was identical with that 

 of fresh eggs. On account of prompt handling and cool weather the cracked eggs had 

 not deteriorated previous to breaking. 



Similar samples obtained for the most part from cracked eggs were procured during 

 the regular visit in the early part of May when the output per day was one-third 

 more than it was at the time of the preliminary visit. The laboratory results still 

 showed a comparatively low bacterial content, as indicated in Tables D-II and D-III 

 under visit No. 1, but there is observed an increase as compared with the count of the 

 previous samples. The white contained 13,500, the yolk 64,000, and the mixed egg 

 170,000 organisms per gam. The B. coli in each of these specimens numbered 1,000 

 per gram. There was also slightly more loosely bound nitrogen in the eggs at this 

 period. 



The differences in the number of bacteria and the ammoniacal nitrogen in the two 

 lots of samples are almost negligible from a practical viewpoint. They are, however, 

 readily detected by laboratory methods, and are probably due to an increased rate of 

 deterioration in the cracked eggs because of warmer weather. 



Visit No. 2 {May 27 to 31). 



The second series of observations in this house was made when practically all the 

 additions and changes in equipment had been installed. The sanitary washbowl and 

 the remodeled breaking tray were in operation. 



Plate X, figure 2, shows a girl at work with the remodeled apparatus. Onherright 

 in a galvanized-iron pail is her egg supply; at her left on the table is the 25-pound 

 cream pail for the liquid egg, and on the floor the can for the shells; in front of her 

 on the breaking stand is the breaking tray. Underneath the stand can be observed 

 the shelves for holding the supply of apparatus. Over the girl's head is suspended a 

 package of tissue paper (not shown in picture) for drying fingers. 



The new breaking tray, about 1 foot square and 2 inches deep, consists of a copper 

 pan for the drip, a wire screen for supporting the cups, and a breaking knife of boiler 

 steel, the different parts being arranged as pictured in Plate X, figure 2. The pan is 

 tinned on the inside. The ends of the blade are so beveled that they fit into V-shaped 

 openings in the two uprights on the screen. One end of the upper side of the knife 

 is sharpened for about 3 inches. An egg can be broken on this edge without splintering 

 the shell and with very little leakage from the crack while the egg is being transferred 

 from the knife to the cup. 



This firm began buying its eggs on a "quality basis" on the 1st of June. The lots 

 coming in during the earlier part of the day were taken to the candling room, which 

 was now under refrigeration and immediately graded ; those received late in the after- 

 noon were kept over night in a chill room at about 32° F. and candled the next day 



