42 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
given, we should state that our attention was first called specially to the subject by a most 
intelligent lady who advocated this plan, alleging as the probable reason of its superiority, 
“ Keeping eggs on the small end appears to me to cause the air-bubble to spread, detaching 
it from the shell, or, rather, from its membranous lining ; and after being so kept for a fortnight, 
the air-bubble will be found to be much spread, and the egg to have lost much vitality, though 
still very good for eating.” She then described her success the other way, adding, “ Owing to 
this method of storing, such a thing as a stale egg has never been known in my house ; and 
as regards success in hatching, for several seasons, when I was able to attend to my poultry 
myself, of many broods set, every egg produced a chick.” We were by no means hasty in 
adopting or recommending this plan ; but, after careful observation and comparison for two 
seasons, have proved indisputably that both for eating or setting, eggs do keep much better 
the large end down. There is after a week a marked difference in eggs kept in the two positions 
as regards the spreading of the air-bubble, which is well known to affect both the freshness 
for eating and vitality for setting of stored eggs, and after three weeks the difference can 
be discerned even by the taste alone. It will, of course, matter little which mode is adopted, 
provided the eggs are used for either purpose within a short time ; but the longer kept the 
more the difference from the two positions increases : and, while eggs stored with the small end 
down cannot be depended upon after a fortnight to produce more than a proportion of chickens, 
those kept in the way we now advocate will keep perfectly good for hatching a month or even 
more. We have sent thirty dark Brahma eggs to Ohio, U.S., which were twenty-two days on the 
road, yet they produced eighteen strong, lively chickens, or sixty per cent., though the eggs must 
have been nearly a month old. We ought however to add that, as already observed, we based 
our change of plan not on any single instance, however striking, but on systematic trial for two 
seasons. During each of these seasons we sent out about forty sittings (of ten each) dark 
Brahma eggs, and we satisfied ourselves most fully that with the ordinary age of eggs thus sold 
by English fanciers, say from three to thirteen days, the difference in favour of eggs stored the 
large end down amounted to nearly five per cent. This may not be much ; but, as already 
remarked, with age it increases : and we have proved as conclusively, by actual trial, that eggs 
may be set and successfully hatched with remarkable uniformity, at ages which, kept in the usual 
method, would be nearly hopeless. We have known eggs kept a month hatch fairly even on the 
old system ; but we are now speaking of usual and average results, and simply place at the service 
of fanciers in general the results of patient trial which have abundantly satisfied ourselves 
that there is a real difference in the product of the two positions.* With regard to packing, 
so far as actual injury is concerned, we believe there is no difference whatever in the two ways; 
but if the journey occupy any time the same position should be maintained for similar reasons. 
There is not the slightest difficulty in packing eggs for setting so as to go with perfect 
safety any ordinary journey, and various methods are preferred by different fanciers. One very 
commonly employed, on account of the little trouble it gives, is to bed the eggs in bran in 
a wooden box ; but this is not safe except for very short journeys, the bran settling down 
and often bringing the eggs to the sides or bottom of the box, where they get injured, even if not 
actually broken. This is easily prevented as follows : — Put a layer of bran an inch thick in 
the bottom, and cover with a sheet of paper, which will effectually prevent the eggs coming to 
* It is only fair to him to state that in his pamphlet on “ Poultry Keeping from a Commercial Point of View,” Mr. Geyelin 
advocated theoretically the same position for storing eggs ; but the numerous absurdities in the other parts of his brochure deterred 
every one from paying much attention to this recommendation : and it was only the positive statement as to actual comparative results 
sent us by the lady alluded to which led us to devote serious experiment to the subject, with the result we have stated. 
