no 



BULLETIN 664, I . s. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



invariably so stowed that shifting of t lu- load bad occurred during 

 transit. Later on. when the investigators saw to ii that the load was 

 rigid, the results given in Table 11 were obtained. When shifting 

 in this load does lake place the three crosswise cases on alternate 

 layers at the bunker are likely to fall down into the space, not only 

 becoming crushed themselves but b}' grinding injuring other cases. 



The rigidity of the load depends largely upon the character of the 

 bulling and the manner in which it is placed in the car; hence it 

 assumes an important role in preventing damage. The methods 

 used by the investigators, in order to make observations upon loads 

 buffed with either straw or wood (pp. 6 and 7), emphasize the neces- 

 sity of packing the buffing so tightly that shifting can not take 

 place. Unfortunately many shippers have failed to realize the easily 

 compressible character of straw, to which fact is due much of the 

 damage prevailing in straw-buffed cars (PI. VIII, fig. 1). For 

 example, out of 27 straw-buffed carlots studied during the early 

 part of the investigation 18 showed serious damage or displaced cases 

 on arrival at destination, simply because the straw had not been 

 packed tightly enough. 



During the survey of commercial practices made in the early part 

 of this investigation it w T as observed that a relatively large number 

 of carloads of eggs buffed w T ith wooden frames arrived at destination 

 in good condition. This was because the load was tighter and had 

 shifted little, if at all, as it did when loosely buffed with straw. 

 Observations were made on a number of carlots that had been 

 packed with straw at the bunkers, and the load then made tight by 

 frames at the middle. These also commonly arrived in good order. 



A comparison of the damage observed in well stowed cars, buffed 

 with straw, with that in well stowed cars, buffed with wood, shows 

 a small margin (about 1.5 eggs per case) in favor of the straw, as 

 may be seen by comparing the t3 r pical shipments listed in Table 12. 



Table 12. — Comparison of damage in straio- <ni<l wood-buffed curs. 



Straw-bulled cars. 



Wood-buffed cars. 



Experi- 

 ment No. 



Damaged 



eggs per 



case. 



Experi- 

 ment No. 



Damaged 



eggs per 



case. 



5130 

 5118 



.".lL'll 



5132 

 5181 

 5173 

 5127 

 5129 



3.0 



3. 5 



3.11 

 ."..II 



::. .". 

 •>. 

 2. 5 



5102 

 5103 

 3104 

 5105 



5140 



. 51111 



51 18 



5172 



5.5 

 0.5 

 3.0 

 4.0 

 0.0 

 3. 5 

 5.0 

 5. 



The amount of damage given in Table 12 is, of course, the average 

 for all parts of the car. Reference to the discussion of the damage 



