EGG PRESERVATION 211 
and one that was laid twenty-four hours before. They taste pre- 
cisely the same, and for all practical purposes they are the same. 
If even one half of our households were to pickle four months’ 
supplies it would confer a great benefit upon themselves and in- 
directly upon the egg-farmer, who would get a little more for his 
eggs when they were very cheap and a little less when they were 
very dear. The benefit to the consumer would be greatest of all. 
If eggs were a non-perishable product, and could be kept in prime 
condition from one season to another, wide variations in supplies 
would be avoided, and the extremes of prices prevented. This is 
to some extent met by the process of preservation, and when the 
natural deterioration is retarded or stopped in this way, eggs can 
be sold, if in good condition, at rates which leave a sufficient 
margin of profit. Simple methods of preservation may also use- 
fully be resorted to as a means of regulating the domestic supply. 
The following are the methods of preserving eggs which, up to 
the present, have yielded the best results :— 
LimE WATER 
An egg pickle, composed of lime, salt, cream of tartar and water, 
was patented upwards of a hundred years ago, and a modification 
of this preparation is still used extensively both at home and 
abroad. The pickle as now generally employed is made by mixing 
four parts by measure of finely slaked lime with twenty parts of 
cold water, and afterwards adding one part of salt. This solution 
should be prepared by mixing the lime and the water a week before 
it is to be used, and stirring well together daily, adding the salt 
on the fourth or fifth day. The eggs should be placed in vats, 
barrels or crocks, and the cleared solution poured over them, care 
being taken to avoid adding any of the lime sediment, otherwise 
there is danger of the solution becoming a solid mass. Where 
large quantities are preserved it is more economical to place them 
in cement tanks, each holding 60,000 to 80,000. It is desirable 
not to fill the vessel with eggs, but to allow two or three inches of 
solution above the top layer. A little fresh solution should be 
