226 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



and clean and that will keep the eggs from breaking 

 will do for this purpose. A good way is to wrap each 

 egg in excelsior, pack in baskets and mark in large 

 letters EGGS FOR HATCHING. It will not hurt the 

 eggs to wash them if they are washed clean, and then 

 wiped clean and dry. The objection to poor washing 

 of eggs is that it often simply serves to fill every pore of 

 the shell with matter which stops evaporation. To illus- 

 trate, an egg smeared by the breaking of another egg 

 might have half or less of the pores stopped up. If 

 carelessly washed the broken egg might be only thinly 

 and evenly distributed over the entire shell. In that 

 case it is evident that it would have been better not 

 to wash. But if the washing is well done it is an 

 advantage. Take clean water that is warm enough to 

 loosen the dirt. If that is very adhesive let the eggs 

 soak awhile — but never use water hot enough to cook 

 the egg next the shell. Don't attempt to rub the eggs 

 hard. I prefer a bit of soft sponge for the washing, 

 and a soft cloth to dry the eggs, though I only dry 

 them when to be sold (market eggs). The eggs I set I 

 wash clean and let dry in the air. There can be 

 no bad effects if the eggs are clean. There may be a 

 slight staining of the shell, which is of no consequence 

 when the eggs are to be incubated, but does not look 

 well on eggs offered for sale. If many soiled eggs are 

 to be washed use small quantities of water, and change 

 often. Using water that has become thick with the 

 stuff washed off the eggs causes most of the trouble 

 which makes some warn against washing eggs. 



Storing eggs for winter use is frequently done by 

 the thrifty housewife who gets them when they are 

 plenty and cheap. There are many recipes for holding 

 eggs but only two have been proved good by compara- 

 tive tests. These are water glass and the lime and salt 

 solution. Greasing the eggs, packing in oats or bran 



