2 BULLETIN 775, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ments of their holdings, give a fair approximation of the extent and 
value of the business. 
The deliveries in appreciable quantities of eggs from cold storage 
begin in August, continue in increasing amounts during the fall and 
early winter months, and gradually decrease from this period until 
the first of March, when there are but few, or practically no eggs 
left in storage in normal seasons. For example, during the season 
of 1916-17 57.7 per cent of the holdings were left in storage on 
November 1, 34.2 per cent on December 1, 13.8 per cent on January 1, 
2.1 per cent on February. 1, and 0.1 per cent on March 1.1 These 
statistics agree with those collected by Holmes? several years earlier. 
The increase in consumption of cold storage eggs during the winter 
corresponds to the marked decline in egg production during that time. 
PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION. 
Although a number of publications discuss the losses in eggs which 
follow the routine course of marketing without the intervention of 
cold storage,*? comparatively few data, showing the changes and losses 
in different grades of eggs handled according to commercial usages 
during various holding periods in cold storage, are available. This 
investigation was made primarily to determine the efficiency of the 
preservation of commercial eggs by cold storage. The following 
phases of the problem were studied: 
(1) The relative keepmg quality of fresh, heated, sound, dirty, 
and cracked eggs. 
(2) The relation of the month of storage to preservation. 
(3) Efficiency of the commercial grading of eggs for cold storage. 
(4) Analysis of bad eggs developing in commercially packed eggs 
during storage. 
(5) Relation of care in initial grading to the development of bad 
eggs during storage. 
(6) Rate of evaporation of moisture from eggs. 
(7) Rate of absorption of moisture by case and fillers. 
(8) Physical and chemical changes in eggs during storage. 
(9) Absorption of foreign flavors during storage. 
GENERAL PLAN OF INVESTIGATION. 
The eggs used in these observations were produced in the Corn 
Belt States of the Middle West, with the exception of a few lots 
which came from Kentucky. They were shipped East in refrig- 
erator cars, and were from three to seven days en route. As soon 
i Report of the Bureau of Markets issued Apr. 1, 1917. 
2U.S. Dept. Agr., Statistics Bul. 93. 
3U.8. Dept. Agr. Buls. 51, 224, 664; U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem. Cires. 83, 104; U. S. Dept. Agr., Year- 
beok (1910) Article 552, and Yearbook (1914) Article 647. 
