MARKETING EGGS 493 



In a pen of fowls receiving no green feed the weight varied 

 from 13.33 pounds per 100 eggs in February to 11.09 pounds 

 in July. Economical egg production shows that hberal feed- 

 ing is essential. In a test of fowls of supposed equal value 

 three pens fed liberally laid 8,062 eggs, and the same number 

 during the same period of time scantily fed laid only 5,144. 



The following test showed that for these two lots of eggs the 

 heaviest production was in the pullet year. Two pens of 

 pullets fed liberally averaged 138.7 eggs each, while the same 

 test run with yearling hens averaged only 125.6 eggs per hen. 



That scanty feeding reduces the size of the egg is shown in 

 an experiment in which the eggs, in March, from a pen hberally 

 fed averaged 60.3 grams, while the same breed and same age 

 hens scantily fed laid eggs averaging only 57.6 grams, or a 

 decrease of 4.5 per cent. 



HOW TO CANDLE EGGS 



Eggs may be clicked together and if one is cracked it can 

 be detected by the click or "cracked pot" sound. 



The room in which eggs are candled must be dark. The 

 egg is held in the hand in a slanting position with the large end 

 against the opening in the candler. A rapid twist from right 

 to left will bring into view the location of the yolk, air cell, 

 and condition of the white. The egg should be completely 

 turned so any mold or other spots on either side may be 

 observed. 



The Air Space. — The airspace of a fresh egg is less than three- 

 fourths inch in diameter. A full egg is a first and a shrunken 

 egg a second. Where the membrane is broken (addled egg) 

 there may appear bubbles, a mixture of air and albumin. 

 Movable air cells are seen in very stale eggs when the air cell 

 divides and moves between the two membranes. 



The White. — Firmness and color are to be observed. In a 

 fresh egg the albumin is firm and thick, and in a stale egg it is 

 weak and thin. This latter condition occurs where the egg 

 has been exposed to warm temperatures as in summer and by 

 incubation. If the albumin is firm it sways but little in turn- 

 ing during candling;, on the other hand if the albumin is thin 



