BREAKAGE OF EGGS IN TRANSIT. ; 13 
rarrant its analysis and further efforts to reduce it. Viewed with 
the remembrance of the much greater amount of damage constantly 
visible wherever egg cars are unloaded, it seems highly desirable to 
discuss and weigh the routine of handling, stowing, bracing, and 
transporting by which the damage was kept down to the figures 
given in Table 1. 
An analysis of the factors contributing to transit damage shows 
that it is principally affected by: 
(1) The size of the egg. 
(2) The soundness of the eggshell. 
(3) The character of the package. 
(4) The position of the egg in the package. 
(5) The position of the case in the car. 
(6) The character of the buffing and bracing of the load. 
(7) The construction of the car. 
(8) Shocks during the haul. 
(9) Handling at the terminal. 
THE SIZE OF THE EGG. 
The relative safety during transportation of eggs which exactly fit 
the cells of the fillers as they are now made (1.75 by 2.25 inches), as 
compared with eggs which are too long, too short, and too narrow, is 
shown in Table 2. 
TABLE 2.—Damage in transit to long, short, narrow, and well-fitting eggs. 
Indi- : ; 
Condition at packing house. vidual Begs damaged Pe: 
eggs. ransit. 
Number.| Number. | Per cent. 
LT) ifey COLG es a e sane ta Cayo nec 33, 626 639 1.90 
LOTR SIS Gee See sede cone eee FGA IE SEE SOMERS Se ret re re alte eee 323 12 oval 
SU os odo s eet Sete a aie Ree Res ase es le ape a ip a ee 1,170 11 94 
DSTO cow seeks She SS Ree Oe Fee a ne a ee ee 467 Ul 1.49 
The eggs which are too long for the fillers are, of course, most 
subject to injury. The study indicates that 18 per cent of the eggs 
marketed in northern Missouri were longer than the cells. More 
than 2 per cent were inch or more above the top of the cell (fig. 7). 
The proportion of large eggs would probably increase in some dis- 
tricts; where production has been placed on a more scientific basis, 
and decrease in others, where low-grade stock still predominates. 
The eggs which are too large for the diameter of the filler press 
the walls outward, and secure sufficient space from the cells contain- 
ing narrow eggs; for the eggs which are too long there is no such 
relief, and their liability to damage is nearly twice that of the well- 
