Russian Poultry Industry. 



33 



hand, the eggs of fowls fed upon corn are of a clear yellow. 

 The first are denominated in Russia " grass " eggs, the latter 

 "grain 5 ' eggs. The first are unfit for keeping, and are 

 accordingly sold at once for what they will fetch. Albumen 

 factories are the principal customers for such. 



The "grain" eggs, on the other hand, are further sorted, 

 and, according to the result, are destined either for export or 

 for the chief towns. They are examined for I freshness and 

 fulness, [2 size, and '5 cleanliness of the shell. The first is 

 observed by the light ; the size is determined by a metal ring. 

 Eggs which reach the standard of freshness and fulness and 

 which do not pass through the ring form a special group 

 called " golowka.'*'" Xot more than about eight of such eggs 

 go to a pound avoirdupois. These are almost all destined 

 for export. The other eggs are again separated into first 

 and second class, and two common sorts, so that there are 

 five grades in the trade. Eggs with broken or merely 

 cracked shells go straight to the albumen factory. The eggs 

 are packed in cases containing 1,440, with dry, clean, oat 

 straw, free from grass. 



The largest egg merchants of St. Petersburg lay in, during 

 the autumn, some 30 million eggs each as a winter supply. 

 The large "golowka" eggs are generally at once bought up 

 in St. Petersburg by the foreign agents. Prices there are 

 considerably higher than in the provinces, 4s. 4d. per 100 may 

 be taken as an average, though 6s. yd. is often given ; while 

 with an early Easter and small supply as much as is. o,d. for 

 ten eggs may be paid in the retail trade. At the beginning 

 of the second half of November the importation of eggs into 

 the capital ceases almost entirely, for the eggs crack with 

 more than 10 degrees of frost. Only a few consignments are 

 received, in felt-lined waggons, by the Warsaw railway. 

 Some 170 million eggs are annually brought into St. Peters- 

 burg by two railways, and another 70 million by water, the 

 greater part of which are consumed in the capital and its 

 immediate neighbourhood. 



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