BREAKAGE <>K EGGS in TRANSIT 



STOWING THE LOAD. 



During the earlier part of the investigation, no suggestions were 

 made regarding the manner of loading (lie cars, but records were 

 kept in detail of the routine in each house, and I he effect of the vari- 

 ous practices on the safety of the eggs. The effect of such prac- 

 tices as walking on cases, which materially increased top-layer 

 breakage, and of rough handling given the cases as they were placed 

 in the car, was evident at destination. The buffing of tlie cars, if 

 any was used, and the manner of bracing were factors that showed 

 even more plainly. The results obtained later in the work led the 

 investigators to stow the load according to definite methods, and to 

 make it as rigid as possible. 



PLACING CASES IN CAR. 



Two methods are commonly used in placing cases in the car, « 

 namely, the "straight-joint" and "step" or "broken-joint" loads. 



Fir,. 1. — Car loaded from side. Frame to enable cold air from bunkers to enter the car. 

 Note crosswise Cases at end of the load in alternating layers, to give " step " effect. 



In the first, a row of cases is set across the end of the car at the 

 bunker, and others are placed on top until the desired height is 

 reached; a second row is placed in front of the first, built up to the 

 desired height; and so on to the center of the car. The other end of 

 the car is then stowed, and any extra space which remains in the 

 middle of the car is filled with wooden braces or some other form of 

 buffing. The second method, by which the cases are placed like 

 bricks in a wall (fig. 1), almost invariably entails walking on the 

 cases, which is likely to cause breakage in top layers. It also neces- 

 sitates placing a few oases crosswise at the bunker. 



Primarily to avoid w 7 alking on the cases when making a step load, 

 and incidentally providing many advantageous features, a few ship- 

 pers have adopted what is termed the " side-load " method of placing 

 cares (fig. 1, and PI. I). This consists in placing a row 1 the entire 

 length of the car against the far side, leaving the excess space at one 

 or both bunker ends, as desired. A sufficient number of layers to 



1 " Rows *' designate cases placed parallel to the side of the car. " Stacks " indicate 

 the cases across the width of the car. " Layers " express the vertical stacking of cases. 



