360 
JOtlR^AL  OP  PORTlCtJLTURP  APT)  COTTAQP  GARDEKPR. 
April  2l,  18984 
treating  the  homely  egg.  V/e  depend  on  the  daily  supply.  Like  the 
manna  of  old,  it  has  to  be  suflScient  unto  the  day ;  but,  alas  !  our  hens 
do  not  look  at  the  matter  in  that  light,  and  often  fail  us  in  our 
greatest  need.  When  the  garden  is  full  of  ripe  luscious  fruit  we  do 
not  feel  so  much  the  need  of  a  good  egg  supply ;  rather  do  we  look 
for  them  when  the  summer  is  over  and  past  and  our  daily  meals 
are  a  trifle  monotonous.  At  present  all  good  things  come  at  once — 
fruit,  vegetables,  young  meat  (lamb,  veal  and  chickens),  and  eggs  by 
the  hundred. 
We  just  glance  down  the  list  of  Saturday  markets  (in  north 
and  mid-England)  and  see  the  prices  ranging  from  sixteen  to  nineteen 
eggs  for  Is.,  cheap  food  for  the  million ;  but,  alas  !  for  the  poor 
producer,  how  he  gnashes  his  teeth  and  looks  from  side  to  side  for  a 
more  remunerative  market.  Why  should 'all  these  eggs,  so  good  and 
really  valuable,  be  hurled  on  to  the  market  at  once  ? 
And  then  come  the  days  of  famine,  or  rather  weeks,  when  eggs  get 
to  eight  for  Is.  We  want  some  readjustment  somewhere,  but  up  to 
now  no  adequate  means  for  preservation  has  been  discovered.  We 
think  there  must  be  some  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  for  surely  eggs 
are  not  so  difiScult  to  deal  with  as  milk.  They  do  not  take  a  taint 
so  easily ;  they  are  so  effectually  protected  that  they  cannot  be  made 
the  vehicle  for  the  spread  of  disease,  and  yet  so  far  they  baffle  the 
chemist  and  the  inventor. 
Of  course,  as  no  preserved  milk  can  equal  in  flavour  and  bouquet 
the  warm,  rich  fluid  freshly  drawn,  so  neither  do  we  expect  preserved 
eggs  to  equal  the  newly  laid ;  and  yet  to  how  many  varied  and 
excellent  uses  could  these  eggs  be  put  where  their  age  would  be  no 
bar  to  their  use !  Every  good  housewife  has  tried  her  hand  at  this 
attempt  to  meet,  as  it  were,  the  months  of  famine,  and  innumerable 
are  the  recipes  passed  down  from  mother  to  daughter. 
Of  course,  a  careful  woman  will,  in  most  instances,  be  assured  of  a 
measure  of  success  ;  but,  alas  !  we  want  some  method  that  will  do 
for  the  million  whose  zeal  is  perhaps  greater  than  their  judgment,  and 
that  method  has  yet  to  be  found.  The  egg  is  a  delicate  and  valuable 
food  enclosed  in  a  shell  more  or  less  porous.  The  action  of  the  air  on 
the  edible  portion  soon  causes  serious  deterioration,  and  therefore 
something  must  be  provided  which  effectually  excludes  the  air.  Say 
eggs  are  put  away  now  not  to  be  used  till  October  or  November,  that 
means  preservation  for  six  months. 
The  Germans  have  been  trying  a  series  of  experiments,  and  the 
results  obtained  are  very  iiistrnctive.  The  eggs  were  put  away  for 
eight  months,  and  then  brought  out  and  tested  with  the  following 
results : — 
I. — Eggs  preserved  in  salt  water  all  uneatable,  salt  having  penetrated 
the  shell. 
II.  — Wrapped  in  paper,  80  per  cent.  bad. 
III.  — In  a  solution  of  salicylic  acid  and  glycerine,  80  per  cent.  bad. 
IV.  — Rubbed  with  salt,  70  per  cent.  bad. 
V. — Preserved  in  bran,  70  per  cent.  bad. 
VI.— Covered  with  paraffin,  70  per  cent.  bad. 
VII.  .Varnished  with  a  solution  of  glycerine  and  salicylic  acid 
70  per  cent.  bad.  ^  ’ 
VIII.— Put  in  boiling  water  fifteen  seconds,  50  per  cent  bad. 
IN. — In  a  solution  of  salicylic  acid,  50  per  cent.  bad. 
X. — Varnished  with  waterglass,  40  per  cent.  bad. 
XI. — Treated  with  a  solution  of  alum,  50  per  cent.  bad. 
XII.— Varnished  with  collodion,  40  per  cent.  bad. 
XIII. — Covered  with  lac,  40  per  cent.  bad. 
XIV.  — Varnished  with  sward,  20  per  cent.  bad. 
XV.— Preserved  in  ashes  of  wood,  20  per  cent.  bad. 
X  VI.— Treated  with  boric  acid  and  waterglass,  20  per  cent.  bad. 
manganate  of  potassa,  20  per  cent.  bad. 
XVIII. — Varnished  with  va'elino,  all  good. 
XIX. — Preserved  in  lime  water,  all  good. 
XX.  Preserved  in  a  solution  of  waterglas,s,  all  good. 
The  three  last  tests  came  out  well,  but  even  these  leave  a  good 
deal  to  be  desired.  Varnishing  wdth  vaseline  is  too  tedious  a  process, 
it  means  so  much  handling,  and  the  difficulty  will  present  itself  to 
any  thinking  mind  how  to  insure  that  every  atom  of  the  shell  be 
covered.  As  one  leak  will  sink  a  ship,  so  one  pore  unstopped  admits 
air,  and  all  the  work  is  undone. 
Well,  as  to  lime  water,  our  own  experience  makes  us  doubtful  on 
the  matter.  Sometimes  they  come  out  all  right  and  good  (the  white 
is  always  a  little  watery),  and  at  other  times  the  yolk  is  set  perfectly 
hard  and  ball-like.  No  lime-preserved  egg  is  ever  fit  to  boil,  and 
often  where  the  most  care  has  been  taken  there  is  always  a  more  or 
less  strong  flavour  of  lime — most  undesirable  in  so  delicate  a  food. 
Whether  waterglass  will  ever  become  a  popular  mode  of  preserva¬ 
tion  remains  to  be  proved.  It  is  a  substance  of  which  the  majority  of 
us  know  little.  Waterglass  is  an  alkaline  silicate,  which  dissolves 
in  water.  In  appearance  it  is  like  a  thick  sugar  syrup.  It  can  be 
bought  at  10s.  or  12s.  per  cwt.,  and  is  used  in  proportion  of  one  to  ten. 
The  water  should  be  previously  boiled,  and  mixed  with  the  waterglass 
when  cold  ;  the  mixture  should  then  be  poured  over  the  eggs,  which 
are  packed  in  a  vessel,  till  the  topmost  ones  are  perfectly  covered. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  see  that  the  eggs  so  preserved  are 
perfectly  fresh,  and  free  from  the  slightest  soil  or  stain. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  are  rejoicing  now  in  typical  April  weather,  shower  following 
shower  at  exceedingly  short  intervals  j  the  rain  is  doing  wonders  to  all 
kinds  of  vegetation,  and  we  are  regretting  that  the  nitrate  of  soda  which 
should  have  been  benefiting  the  Wheat  is  still  unapplied  through  delay  in 
delivery. 
The  rain  is  driving  the  horses  off  the  land  as  regards  harrowing  and 
cleaning  operations,  so  we  must  turn  to  the  yards  which  are  very  full  of 
manure  and  get  out  what  will  be  required  for  the  Swedes.  The  Mangold 
land  is  ready  for  ridging,  and  if  ridged  up  the  first  fine  day  will  then  be 
ready  for  its  share  of  the  muck.  Too  much  of  it  can  hardly  be  applied 
for  Mangold  if  the  weather  be  moist  and  the  manure  solid,  and  it  must  be 
good  for  Mangold  to  do  well  ;  light  strawy  manure  only  helps  the  land 
to  dry  out  during  a  drought,  and  does  little  good  to  the  crop. 
We  have  lightly  rolled  the  Potato  ridges,  and  shall  ridge  them  up 
again  with  a  one-horse  earthing  plough.  This  will  do  much  to  preserve 
a  good  tilth,  and  will  tend  towards  economy  when  weeding  time  comes. 
The  mention  of  weeding  reminds  us  that  Wheat  is  growing  fast, 
and  where  any  hoeing  is  required  it  had  be  better  done  at  once  ;  where 
Wheat  is  thick  and  strong  with  little  twitch  in  it  a  good  harrowing  will 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  hoeing,  but  where  Wheat  is  foul  with  twitch 
or  thistles  the  hoe  must  be  used,  and,  after  this  date,  the  earlier  the 
better.  So  far,  we  hope  this  is  not  going  to  be  a  thistle  year,  as  there  are 
very  few  showing  their  heads  above  ground  as  yet. 
We  referred  above  to  the  manure  used  for  the  Swede  crop.  We  do 
not  intend  to  infer  that  manure  is  necessary  for  Swedes  ;  in  fact,  when 
the  heavy  cost  of  carting  and  spreading  farmyard  manure  at  the  busiest 
time  of  the  year  is  fully  taken  into  account,  we  are  convinced  that  unless 
the  land  is  clean  enough  to  manure  during  the  winter  it  is  most  economical 
to  use  the  farmyard  muck  either  in  July  upon  seeds  lor  Wheat  or  upon 
any  land  suitable  for  Oats  or  Potatoes,  as  for  the  latter  crops  the  carting 
and  spreading  could  be  done  during  the  winter  season. 
Some  farmers,  perhaps,  may  say  that  if  we  are  always  trying  to  do  all 
the  work  in  w  inter  when  the  days  are  short,  the  result  may  be  not  what 
we  are  aiming  at,  but  we  have  never  found  too  much  spare  time  on  our 
hands  at  midsummer,  and  if  all  the  work  be  done,  what  more  suitable 
time  is  there  for  the  farmer  to  take  a  holiday,  and  who  shall  say  that  he 
does  not  dest  rve  one  ? 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1898. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
April. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  ....  10 
Monday  ....  11 
Tuesday  ....  12 
Wednesday  13 
Thursday  . .  14 
Friday .  15 
Saturday ....  16 
inchs 
29-759 
deg. 
54-5 
deg. 
52-0 
S.W. 
deg. 
46-9 
deg. 
58-6 
deg. 
48-0 
deg. 
86-1 
deg. 
45-6 
inchs. 
0-038 
29-790 
53-4 
48-9 
W. 
47-0 
59-8 
46-2 
103-3 
40-9 
0-160 
-29-618 
44-9 
42-9 
N.W. 
47-1 
56-9 
42-2 
98-3 
42-2 
— 
30-062 
49-2 
45-1 
S.W. 
45-9 
59-1 
36-4 
100-2 
30-4 
— 
-29  891 
53-1 
46-6 
S. 
46-5 
59-8 
44-1 
84-7 
38-9 
0-115 
29-769 
48-2 
46-2 
N.W. 
47-1 
60-1 
45-8 
109-9 
44-7 
— 
3C-035 
49-3 
45-0 
N.W. 
47-1 
61-1 
35-6 
96-6 
32-2 
— 
29-846 
60-4 
46-7 
46-8 
59-3 
42-6 
97-0 
39-3 
0-313 
REMARKS. 
10th.— Overcast  morning  with  spots  of  rain  ;  wet  from  1.30  to  2.30  P.M.  ;  bright 
sunshine  after  3.30  P.M. 
11th. — Overcast  morning  ;  sunny  at  times  in  afternoon ;  slight  showers  in 
evening. 
12th.— Rainy  till  9  A.M.  ;  overcast  morning;  generally  sunny  after  noon;  fine 
night. 
13th. — Alternate  cloud  and  sunshine  throughout. 
14th. — Generally  overcast,  with  frequent  spots  of  rain,  but  an  occasional  gleam  of 
sun  ;  showers  at  night. 
16th.— Showery  till  4  a.m.  ;  sunny  from  9.30  A.M.,  and  brilliant  afternoon. 
16th.— Brilliant  early  ;  cloudy  at  times  in  the  day. 
Temperature  slightly  above  the  average,  but  a  very  normal  week  for  the 
season.— G.  3.  Symons. 
