1 Dec., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAD. 559 
Summary showing Results of Experiments. = 
1. If skim milk be alied to the ration fed to young chickens it will 
increase the consumption of the other foods given. 
2. The great increase in average gain was coincident with the periods when 
the greatest amount of skim milk was consumed. 
3. Skim milk is especially valuable as a food for young chickens during the 
hot dry weather, and becomes of less importance ay the chicken grows older 
and the weather becomes cooler.—Gurden and Field. 
SHOULD EGGS BE WASHED ? 
Tur Rural New Yorker sent out this question to a number of poultry experts, 
and, as usual, views differ. 
The New York Produce Review may take its eggs dirty if it likes, but I 
shall continue to ship mine clean. I have been producing about 1,000 dozen a 
month for years, and every egg goes into a pan, of lukewarm water as soon as 
it has been gathered out of the nest. All dirtvis easily removed after the eggs 
have been allowed to lie in warm water a few/minutes, and the”heat imparted 
to the egg by the warm water causes it to dry\quickly, and gives it that fresh 
appearance peculiar to a new-laidege. If the watershurts their keeping quality, 
I have never heard of it. This testimony probably has'little’ value, as my eges 
get into consumers’ hands before they have time to spoil. A few years ago [ 
filled a few glass fruit cans with eggs, and then filled the cans with sterilised 
water at a temperature of 155 degrees, sealing immediately. Hggs thus treated 
in December were in perfect condition after four months. The most expert 
chandler that I could find in the city said that they would pass anywhere for 
new-laid eggs, and Dr. W. E. Douglass, of Middleton, to whom I sent some, 
had them poached for his dinner-table, and said that no one at his table could 
tell them from new-laid eggs. The shells were in perfect condition so far as we 
could see, and the air cells smaller, if anything, than in a new-laid ege. | also 
tried some in the same way during the summer, but the water and eggs soon 
became tainted. From this I concluded that, although stated in the New York 
_ Produce Review, “ wet eggs soon decay in wet weather,’ the cause is found in 
“warm weather,” and not in “ wet eggs.” 
Keep Eg9s Dry.—The New York Produce Review is right. Eggs certainly 
are injured by washing. They will not keep so well or hateh so well as unwashed 
eggs. At least such has been my experience. ‘The best that can be done for a 
soiled egg is to wipe it with a dry cloth; and, if the matter is important, 
carefully rasp the thickest of the dirt off with coarse sandpaper. If an egg is 
washed in either cold or warm water, it will be noticed at once that the “bloom” 
has disappeared, and a careful egg-buyer would at once pronounce it a stale egg. 
If only the fourth part of the shell is unsoiled, that part will show that the egg 
is fresh, because the “bloom” will be there. If you want eges to keep well or 
hatch well, I would advise you to keep them out of water. Don’t even rub them 
with a damp cloth. Keep them dry.—Slorida Agriculturist. 
EXHIBITION. 
By “CORINDA.” 
WASHING WHITE OR LIGHT FEATHERED FOWLS FOR 
As Mr. Fred. Thompson, the famous Sydney breeder of Leghorns and White 
Wyandottes, was staying with me a few days previous to our late Ixhibition in 
Brisbane, where he was so highly successful as an exhibitor, and as I was 
present at the time he washed his White Leghorns and Wyandottes, and perhaps 
rendered him slight assistance, I think 1 could not do better than describe his 
method. He half filled three ordinary washing tins the first one with nice 
