62 BULLETIN 224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Visit No. 5 (July 29 to August 2). 
The fifth series of observations was made when, owing to a prolonged period of hot 
weather, there was an increased supply of eggs for breaking. Many of the eggs were 
distinctly lower in quality than the breaking stock previously used. The regular 
candling room was not large enough to handle all the eggs, therefore an auxiliary 
candling room was established in one corner of a storeroom. Not being refrigerated, 
it was very hot. To take care of the extra supply of eggs, new candlers were required. 
From this fact, together with the increased difficulty in grading such low quality 
eggs, 1t could be predicted that large numbers of bad eggs would not be detected and 
would therefore gain access to the breaking room. 
An observation made in the breaking room showed that 41 bad eggs, or 9.5 per cent, 
were found in a total of 36 dozen. These should all have been eliminated by the 
candlers. An analysis of the 41 eggs showed that they consisted of 2 eggs containing 
mold spots, 6 blood rings, 13 white rots, and 20 eggs with an adherent yolk. 
The effect of so many bad eggs in the breaking-room stock is shown by the fact that 
the product broken from the lot of 36 dozen eggs contained 20,000,000 organisms per 
gram. 
An investigation in the candling room showed that the trouble was chiefly ignorance 
on the part of the new candlers. By working with them for a short time and pointing 
out which eggs should be saved and which discarded the number of bad eggs in the 
breaking stock was promptly reduced. 
In order to put a check on the work of individual candlers, each man was instructed 
to place a tag bearing his name on every bucket of eggs candled by him. Under this 
system the work of an individual candler could be traced into the breaking room. 
Under this regulation the men worked more cautiously, and as long as this system was 
in use the work in the candling room was greatly improved. 
The girls in the breaking room, now 14 In number, were doing efficient work under 
the supervision of the new forewoman. The organization previously described, 
including a forewoman, had been in operation about two weeks. During this time the 
increased efficiency in the breaking room was equivalent to the wages of the 
forewoman. 
Up to this time one-half of the girls had their egg supply on the left instead of on 
the right side; observations with a split-second stop watch showed that 1.8 seconds 
were lost for every four eggs broken when a girl reached for her eggs with her left 
rather than with her right hand. 
Estimating these results on the basis of a 10-hour day, a girl reaching to the right for 
the eggs could break 1.4 more cases a day than she could when working toward the 
left. In accordance with these results, all the apparatus on the breaking table was 
rearranged so that no extra motions were made from the time the egg was removed 
from the pail until it reached its final container. 
The majority of the commercial samples taken during the latter part of July con- 
tained not only more bacteria but also more loosely bound nitrogen than did any pre- 
vious series of samples. For instance, the five specimens of mixed eggs collected 
during the investigator’s absence and the five collected during visit No. 5 had, as 
given in Table D-II, visit No. 5 (Appendix), an average count of 1,400,000 organisms 
per gram as compared with 650,000 in the samples taken during the first half of the 
month. The white and yolk samples showed an even greater increase in bacteria. 
During this visit there was received one shipment of 72 cases of checks which showed 
a combined loss in the candling and breaking room of 14.6 per cent. The bacterial 
findings given in Table 28 showed that the product from these eggs had a materially 
higher bacterial content than the regular product. Many of the eggs were moldy. 
They were obtained from a shipper who hed gradually sorted them out of his receipts 
as unsuited for shipping and had therefore sold them to an egg-breaking establish- 
ment. 
TABLE 28.—Commercial samples of low quality, cracked eggs (D house, 1912.) 
Bacteria per gram | Gas-pro- | Ammoniacal 
on plain agar in- | ducing | nitrogen (Folin 
Sample} Description and size of mete at cubated at— bacteria method). Moist- 
No. sample. Hi SD icra amare Ce ele ee Ee: 
© 20°C 37° GC in lactose] Wet Dry 
. z bile. basis. | basis. 
Visit No. 5. 
Per ct. \ Per ct..| Penict 
4855 | Cracked eggs, 125 pounds....| July 29 | 6,000,000] 5,500,000} 100,000) 0.0023} 0.0075) 69.19 
A856 )|\seee Ty AI eh ga ene Saleen doin: A, 800; 000| 4,000; 000) ° 100; 0002! 4 il eee z 
4886 | Cracked eggs, 100 pounds....{ Aug. 1 | 5,400,000} 4,300,000} 100,000) .0017|. .0062| 72.69 © 
