104 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



ture, as it were, on a town lot, should produce a 

 considerable larger number of eggs than the average 

 family will use. On many days the hens should lay 

 from 12 to 15 eggs, perhaps more. There is sure 

 to be a good sale for these eggs at a very satisfactory 

 price, if the poultry keeper cares to deliver them 

 properly packed in egg boxes. Care should be 

 taken to have them absolutely fresh, for a single 

 bad egg is sufficient to ruin the seller's reputation 

 as a reliable hen man. The parcel post offers an 

 excellent way of shipping eggs to a few city cus- 

 tomers. 



It pays to put eggs of the same color and size in 

 a box, as appearance counts for much. If an egg 

 becomes dirty in the nest or afterwards, it should 

 not be washed, but wiped with a damp cloth. Egg 

 shells are porous. Clean nests are important be- 

 cause an egg is moist when it is laid, so that dirt 

 adheres to it. Many commuters have regular cus- 

 tomers in the buildings where they are employed 

 and the square, neatly wrapped parcels so often seen 

 in the hands of incoming suburbanites spell, to the 

 initiated, fresh eggs. 



