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COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



one that would be suitable for the storage of preserves. If they 

 are placed where, it is too warm, the eggs will not keep well, the 

 solution will evaporate rapidly, and the silicate is likely to form 

 a deposit on the egg shells. 



Only clean eggs should be preserved, and by that is meant, 



only eggs which have 

 always been clean, and 

 not washed. Washing 

 the eggs removes the nat- 

 ural mucilaginous coat- 

 ing on the shell, which 

 was intended by Nature 

 to make the egg more or 

 less impervious to foreign 

 substances. The fresher 

 the eggs the better, 

 naturally, for there is less 

 likelihood of their having 

 been contaminated in 

 any way. Eggs known 

 to be older than a week 

 should not be used as a 

 general practice ; and 

 wherever possible use 

 non-fertile eggs — those 

 from flocks having no 

 male birds. Sterile eggs 

 do not contain an active 

 life germ or embryo, con- 

 sequently they are safe 

 from any state of animal growth, if at any time, no matter how 

 short the period may be, they were subjected to a temperature 

 that would start incubation. 



As a further safeguard, it is well to candle all eggs before they 

 are stored, which will determine their freshness and detect any 

 eggs containing blood clots. See Fig. 283. The importance of 



{Courtesy Cornell Experiment Station) 



Fig. 283. — Examining eggs by means of an 

 electric candler. 



