Preservation of Eggs. 



495 



used, and stirring well together daily, adding the salt on the 

 fourth or fifth day. The eggs should be placed in vats, or 

 barrels, or crocks, and the cleared solution poured over them, 

 taking care to avoid adding any of the lime sediment, otherwise 

 there is danger of the solution becoming a solid mass. It is 

 desirable not to fill the vessel with eggs, but to allow two or 

 three inches of solution above the top layer. An excellent 

 arrangement is to add a little fresh solution occasionally, in order 

 to provide for evaporation. An egg preserved by this method is 

 easily discernible by the roughness of the shell. When boiled 

 the shell cracks, owing to the lime having caused the outer 

 covering to become hard and brittle. This may generally be 

 obviated by pricking the broad end with a needle before it is 

 placed in the water. 



Waterglass. 



Waterglass is the name given to a solution of silicate of soda, 

 which is prepared by dissolving the chemical in water. It is now 

 largely sold in a concentrated solution, to which should be added 

 five or ten times its bulk of pure water, in accordance with the 

 strength. Experiments in America have shown that a 3 per 

 cent, solution (i.e., 3 per cent, of waterglass to 97 per cent, of 

 water) has yielded as good results as that generally recommended, 

 namely, 10 per cent. When the waterglass is added to the water, 

 the two must be very carefully and thoroughly mixed. The eggs 

 may be dipped in the waterglass and dried off, leaving a film on 

 the shell, and then stored upon shelves, or they may be kept in 

 the liquid until sold or used. The latter method is to be preferred. 

 When taken out of the solution they are sticky, and before 

 packing should be wiped or dried off. 



Cold Storage. 



The methods already described are suitable equally for large 

 and small quantities, and may be adopted equally by the farmer 

 or by the trader. Cold storage, in order to be profitable, must 

 be operated upon a large scale, and, consequently, is not available 

 to producers. In America this system is extensively employed, 

 and large plants have been erected specially for the business. 

 Eggs require to be unpacked and laid upon shelves or in trays, 



