18 
The number of bad eggs found by candling among commercial 
spring firsts before storing averaged from 0.5 to 2 eggs per case, as 
compared with 1.5 to 10 eggs per case in the summer packed firsts. 
As would be expected, the initial number of bad eggs in the summer 
seconds was higher, averaging from 8.5 to 21.5 per case in the different 
lots (Table 9). The bad eggs found by candling could not have been 
recognized by sorting, that is, by visual inspection and clicking of 
shells ; therefore, their presence did not reflect upon the accuracy of the 
initial sorting, but upon the inadequacy of the system as compared 
with candling. The additional bad eggs found by breaking, consisting 
mostly of green whites, averaged from 0.5 to 4.5 eggs per case in the 
spring and summer supply. The condition of these eggs, not recog- 
nizable by candling, would not be discovered in the routine market- 
ing until opened by the consumer. 
The number of cracked eggs averaged from 14.5 to 29 per case 
in the storage packed firsts, and from 20 to 34 per case in the summer 
seconds. The leakers averaged from none to 3 per case in the 
different lots studied, showing that the absence of damage in the top 
layers, as determined by commercial inspection, does not always 
indicate that there is none in the lower layers. The findings here 
corroborate the more extensive investigations made by Pennington, 
McAleer, and Greenlee. 1 
Some lots of storage packed firsts contained but few dirty eggs; 
others showed an average of 30 eggs per case. The presence of dirty 
eggs in commercial packages may be attributed directly to oversight 
or carelessness in the initial sorting of the eggs for storage. 
ANALYSIS OF BAD EGGS IN COMMERCIAL FIRSTS AND SECONDS AFTER STORING. 
Studies were made to determine the relative number of bad eggs 
developing in storage from whole, cracked, and leaking eggs present 
in the commercial storage stocks. These observations were based 
on spring and summer eggs withdrawn at monthly intervals from 
November until March, inclusive. Three cases of each lot were 
examined monthly, but, for simplicity, the results for the entire 
period are averaged. It was observed that most, of the bad eggs 
developing in storage packed eggs were evident by November. 
As might be expected, a large portion of the cracked eggs originally 
present in the commercial packages spoiled during storage (Table 9, 
"Bad eggs after storing," and figs. 4 and 5). Out of the average 
of from 15 to 19.5 cracked eggs per case present when the commercial 
spring firsts entered storage, from 4 to 9 bad eggs per case developed, 
as detected by candling, and from 0.5 to 1.5 additional per case as 
found by breaking. The losses were still higher in the summer packed 
firsts. For example, Experiment 41945 when stored contained an 
i U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 664. 
