Selection for Egg Production. 
73 
insufficient. This performance must be repeated with each successive layer until the cask is full to within 
four to six inches of the top ; then cover the eggs closely with a cloth, spreading on the top of this about 
three or four inches of the slaked lime, and always keep the pickle or litiuid over the lime. To support the 
cover of cloth placed on top of the cask, place a few strips of light laths sufficiently strong to bear the weight 
without sagging down and touching the pickle. A wooden cover should not be used. The cask should be 
kept in any cool place — that is, where the heat never reaches a higher point than 50 degrees Fahr., as they 
will not keep in a warm place. It goes without saying that the eggs chosen should be uniformly fresh, and 
not cracked, as these are alnicst certain to spoil the whole process. 
In some cases, owing to high temperature, etc., the pickle will change colour, the crust whicii forms on 
top disappears, and the pickle will work or ferment, and emit a di.sagreeable odour. This is often caused by 
broken eggs, dirty casks, or impure water in the first instance, and these should all be guarded against on 
starting. In such cases the eggs must be taken out, and the pickle renewed. When it is desired to use the 
eggs for home requirements or market, take them out of the pickle, washing them a few d 'Zen at a time in 
a tub of clean water, carefully stirring them with the hand, placing them after cleaning in a cool place to dry, 
rejecting all the cracked or spoiled eggs before packing. If care is exercised in the operation about 5 per 
cent, will cover the loss. 
But where a few eggs, say from 20 to 50 dozen, are required for home consumption, the easiest method, 
and one which will prove advantageous, is to simply pack them in salt. They may be packed in anything 
that is clean and handy — barrels, buckets, boxes, etc. Cover the bottom of the receptacle with a layer of 
salt, three inches thick ; place the eggs on this end upwards, so as not to touch one another, or the sides of 
the box, etc. Then cover them entirely with salt, repeating the process with successive layers until the box 
or barrel is full, covering the top layer well with salt. These can be packed away in a cool spot, and will 
keep in excellent condition, and perfectly good and wholesome for the table, for from five to nine months. 
The boxes containing the eggs should not be placed in a damp spot, as the salt will melt. There is little or 
no cost attached to this method beyond the first expense of the salt, this being used over and over again as 
required. The grade of salt required is known as coarse table salt. 
