44 BULLETIN 51, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



T.A.BLK IG. — f-U/ffs hiuing dirty sJiells. 

 [6 to 15 dozen lots.] 



No. 



Source. 



Date of 



collec- 

 tion. 



Total number of bacte- 

 ria per gram on plain 

 agar incubated at— 



Number 

 of gas- 

 producing 

 liacieria 

 per gram 

 in lactose 

 bile. 



Percentage of ara- 

 moniacal nitro- 

 gen, Folin meth- 

 od. 



Per cent 

 of mois- 

 ture. 



Size of 

 sample. 





20° C. 



37° C. 



"Wet basis. 



Dry basis. 





4279 



Dl 

 D3 

 D3 

 E4 

 E6 

 E7 



1912. 

 May 8 

 June 20 

 ...do.... 

 June 28 

 Aug. 9 

 Aug. 30 



550.000 



400 



13,000 



700,000 



49.000 



1,600,000 



500,000 



400 



3.000 



3.300 



1,700,000 



1,000 



10 



1,000 



1.000 



10. 000 



10 









Dozen. 

 15 



4576 

 4581 

 4634 

 4947 

 41087 



0. 0017 

 .0017 

 .0019 

 .0023 

 .0023 



0.0065 

 .0063 

 .0068 

 .0082 

 .0084 



73.85 

 72.87 

 72.18 

 71.81 

 72.74 



6 

 C 

 6 

 6 

 6 



1 Less than 1,000. 



The bacterial contents yvere widely divergent ; the minimum num- 

 ber was 400 and the maximum number 1,600,000 per gram at 20° C. 

 The number of B. coli varied from 10 to 10,000 in the six samples. 

 The amount of loosely bound nitrogen was markedly higher in t]ie 

 August samples than in the June samples. 



Sample 41087 represents about the lowest quality of dirty eggs used 

 by reputable breakers for food purposes. The shells were so filthy 

 that dirty " dirties '' (the trade designation) best describes them. 

 The candle showed that they were shrunken eggs, and that many 

 yolks floated near the shell as if they were about readj^ to adhere to 

 it. The eggs eliminated during the process of opening were highly 

 infected, as follows : One egg^ with a green white, one sour egg, one 

 Qgg with yolk nearly mingled with white, and two eggs each with a 

 broken yolk which had at one time been adherent to the shell. The 

 conditions found in this lot of eggs are typical of low grade fall 

 receipts. 



The bacteria found in this series of samples were, without doubt, 

 referable both to contamination from the shells during the process 

 of opening and to the eggs themselves. 



EGGS HAVING CRACKED SHELLS. 



On account of the heavy losses accruing from shipping eggs having 

 cracked shells, these eggs constitute one of the important classes 

 used for breaking purposes. 



During the interval between May 2 and August 26, 1912, 2 sam- 

 ples of whites, 2 of yolks, and 16 of whole eggs were taken. These 

 samples represented lots of from 6 to 30 dozen cracked eggs, joro- 

 cured in D, E, and F houses, where it was the custom to keep 

 " checks " in cool surroundings from the time of receipt until the 

 time of breakage, and to give them precedence over other eggs in 

 regard to promptness in candling and breaking. The laboratory 

 results (see Table IT) from thef-e samples indicate what is to be 



