PREPARING POULTRY PRODUCTS 4S7 



It is usual, however, for the producer and consumer to be 

 removed from each other by a considerable distance. Some 

 time must elapse after laying, under the most favorable 

 conditions, and at any time of year, before the egg can reach 

 the table of the consumer. During the season of heavy pro- 

 duction very many of the eggs must be preserved, by means 

 of refrigeration, for the season of low production. 



The producer's problem is to prepare the egg for preser- 

 vation or, more accurately, to avoid those conditions which 

 are responsible for the deterioration of the product during 

 the time that must elapse between its production and 

 consumption. 



What the Loss Is. — Every egg that grades below first-class 

 represents an economic loss that increases as the grade 

 lowers 



These low grades are in a large measure responsible for tlie 

 wide difference between the price paid to the producer and 

 the price paid by the consumer. The price to consumer 

 would tencl to be lower, and the price to tlie producer would 

 tend to be higher if the preventable loss was eliminated. 



Hastings,' after a comprehensive survey of the egg trade 

 in this country, estimated the average annual preventable 

 loss at 17 per cent (or $4.5,000,000), distributed as follows: 



Per cent 

 Dirties. ..,.,,. ... 2.0 



Breakage . 

 Chick development 

 Heated and shrunken 

 Rotten eggs 



2.0 

 5.0 

 5.0 

 2.5 



Mouldy and badly flavored eggs .... 0.6 

 Total . . . 17.0 



ion 



This did not take into account the curtailed consumpti 

 caused by poor quality. This estimate is based on the annual 

 loss of which the most occurs during the warm summer 

 months. 



Where the Loss Occurs. — Lamon and Opperman- found, as 

 the result of extended observations in Kansas, that when the 



' Bureau of Animal Industry, Circular No. 140. ' Ibid., No. 160. 



