482 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  28,  1903. 
sity  aud  desirability  of  having  cheap  eggs  throughout  the 
winter  months.  Until  our  system  of  poultry  management 
is  radically  altered,  we  see  there  is  but  little  chance  of 
keeping  up  throughout  the  year  a  uniform  supply  of  fresh 
eggs,  and  therefore  it  behoves  us  to  lay  by  in  store  when 
eggs  are  plentiful  and  therefore  cheap. 
We  don’t  hear  much  of  winter  traffic  in  preserved  eggs. 
Mainly  those  who  have  them  are  careful  housewives,  who, 
knowing  the  value  of  eggs  as  food,  just  prepare  what 
they  themselves  will  need  for  their  respective  families. 
We  cannot  see  why  a  legitimate  trade  might  not  be  done 
in  pickled  or  preserved  eggs,  provided  the  price  was  not 
prohibitive,  and  the  quality  to  be  depended  upon.  Of 
course,  as  the  Board  observes,  they  must  be  sold  for  what 
they  are,  i.e.,  preserved  eggs,  and  not  palmed  off  on  the 
unsuspecting  customer  as  “fresh  laid.” 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  wisely  got  one  of  our  best  (if 
not  the  best)  poultry  experts  to  draw  up  the  recommenda¬ 
tions  respecting  egg  preservation.  We  speak  of  Mr.  Ed. 
Brown,  and  we  think  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  him 
practically  verbatim.  He  speaks  first  of  a  method  which  is 
100  years  old,  invented  and  patented  by  one  William 
Payne,  a  method  which  many  of  us  have  used,  and  used 
■with  success,  namely,  lime  water.  The  pickle  is  pre¬ 
pared  by  mixing  four  parts  of  finely  slaked  lime  wdth  twenty- 
parts  of  water,  and  afterwards  adding  one  part  of  salt. 
The  lime  and  water  should  be  mixed  at  least  a  week  before 
it  is  needed,  stirred  daily,  and  adding  the  salt  the  fourth 
or  fifth  day.  The  eggs  should  be  placed  in  vats,  barrels, 
or  crocks,  and  the  cleared  solution  poured  over  them, 
taking  care  to  avoid  adding  any  of  the  lime  sediment, 
otherwise  there  is  a  danger  of  the  solution  becoming  a 
solid  mass.  (We  have  seen  this,  with  the  eggs  firmly  em¬ 
bedded,  and  only  got  out  with  infinite  pains,  and  when  got 
out  useless,  as  the  yolks  were  hard  and  tough  as  leather.) 
The -vessel  should  not  be  filled  to  the  top  with  eggs; 
there  should  be  room  left  for  about  Sin  of  solution  above 
the  top  laver.  As  moisture  evaporates,  it  is  well  occasion¬ 
ally  to  add  more  solution,  so  that  every  egg  may  be  well 
and  entirely  covered.  Lime  will  make  the  eggshell  become 
rough  and  brittle,  and  it  will  probably  crack  when  boiled. 
Pricked  at  the  broad  end  before  boiling  will  obviate  this 
difficulty.  [N.B.— On  our  own  account  we  never  did  attempt 
to  boil  a  pickled  egg.]  We  think  there  should  always,  on 
a  well-managed  faim  be  a  supply  (even  in  the  depth  of 
winter)  of  fresh  eggs  for  the  table.  We  cannot  but  think 
the  pickled  eggs  must  lose  that  delicate  fresh  flavour  which 
makes  it  so  delightful  and  valuable  an  article  of  food.  For 
scrambled,  or  buttered,  or  curried  eggs,  the  picklers  answer 
every  end  ;  but  not,  we  think,  for  the  three  and  a  half 
minutes’  boil. 
Now,  then,  for  waterglass.  It  is  cheap,  easily  mixed, 
and  efficacious  ;  that  is,  in  waterglass  eggs  we  have  not 
tound  the  slightest  sign  of  a  hardened  yolk,  which  also  may 
be  met  with  in  those  immersed  in  lime  water  pickle.  As 
to  the  quantity  to  use,  a  tin  containing  sixpennyworth  wall 
wdth  Igal  of  w'ater.  For  those  w-ho  do  not  know*  any¬ 
thing  of  waterglass,  we  may  add  that  it  is  like  very  stiff 
glycerine  ;  perfectly  clear,  but  as  glycerine  might  be  in 
time  of  frost.  It  requires  to  be  well  mixed,  preferably  with 
warm  water;  but  the  mixture  must  be  allowed  to  cool 
before  the  eggs  are  placed  in  it.  Here,  again  care  must  be 
taken  to  see  that  the  e?prs  are  entirely  covered,  and  a  “bit 
over,”  to  allow  of  w-aste  by  evaporation.  ’  . 
Farmers  in  the  country  have  no  appliances  as  yet  for 
cold  storage,  and  whether  it  would  pay  to  send  parcels 
oi  eggs  to  the  cold  storage  in  the  nearest  town  is  a 
question  open  to  doubt.  Personally,  we  should  prefer  a. 
cold  store  to  a  pickier.  Mr.  Brown  hints  that  eggs 
out  of  cold  storage  must  lie  used  at  once,  as  they  rapidly 
deteriorate.  Eggs  should  be  laid  upon  shelves  or  trays, 
and  kept  in  an  even  temperature,  not  falling  below  33deg 
^  circulation  of  air  absolutely  clear  of  taint. 
Nothing  else  \vhatever  must  be  kept  in  the  same  room  with 
the  eggs.  \\  e  suppose  Mr.  Brown  refers  to  meat,  game, 
poultry,  or  fish. 
A  word  about  the  eggs  themselves.  No  amount  of  cold 
storage,  lime,  or  waterglass  pickle  will  make  a  stale  egg 
fresh,  and  therefore  the.  greatest  care  must  be  used  in  the 
selection  of  eggs.  Some  people  are  so  very  careless  with 
respect  to  the  collecting  of  eggs,  and  nests  are  left  undis¬ 
covered  for  days.  If  on  any  given  day  there  is  a  falling  off 
in  the  n.'.mber  of  eggs  gathered,  the  person  who  attends 
oar  poultry  at  once  suspects  a  stolen  nest,  and  does  not 
think  the  time  wasted  which  is  spent  in  searching  for  it. 
The  best  plan  is  to  pickle  eggs  daily  as  they  come  in  from 
the  yard  laid  in  authorised  nests.  We  never  put  away  an 
egg  that  is  in  any  degree  soiled,  nor  do  we  ever  put  away 
an  egg  that  has  been  washed. 
If  this  plan  were  generally  carried  out,  there  would  be 
no  need  to  submit  the  eggs  to  the  light  of  a  testing  lamp, 
for  each  egg  would  be  sound  and  good.  The  x’eceptacle  for 
eggs  must  be  kept  in  a  cool  place,  such  as  a  well-ventilated 
cellar.  We  think  we  must  all  agree  that  eggs  are  nicer  in 
every  way  where  the  birds  have  full  liberty  and  get  plenty 
of  green  and  natural  food  as  well  as  the  handled  grain,  and 
it  is  these  eggs,  Mr.  Brown  declares,  which  keep  the  best. 
There  has  been  a  good  deal  written  on  the  question  of 
fertile  or  unfertile  eggs,  and  the  concensus  of  opinion  is 
that  those  eggs  minus  the  living  germ  are  less  liable  to  go 
wrong.  Personally,  we  have  not  made  the  experiment,  but 
all  the  same,  we  believe  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in 
the  suggestion.  We  never  have  put  any  eggs  away  as  late 
as  the  month  of  June,  for  they  then  begin  to  get  dearer, 
and  we  should  also  doubt  w-hether  they  would  keep  so  well 
as  those  laid  in  the  cooler  months. 
We  think  the  subject  wants  taking  up,  and  we  can  see 
no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  as  good  a  market  in 
winter  for  these  home  grown  preserved  as  there  is  for 
the  box-packed  foreign  preserved,  which  flood  the  markets, 
and  are  often  sold  at  a  halfpenny  each,  the  customer  taking 
the  risk  of  bad,  stale  ones.  A  trade  might  be  made,  and 
also  might  be  easily  spoiled,  if  some  careless  person  offered 
for  sale  eggs  from  stolen  nests  which  w’ere  passing  out  of 
the  stage  of  “egg”  to  that  of  “chicken.”  We  are  sorry 
to  say  we  have  seen  things  of  this  sort  done,  and  a  market 
basket  made  up  with  what  we  should  label  “  Doubtful, 
Very.” 
We  would,  as  a  last  word,  urge  our  readers,  if  they  have 
not  done  so  before,  just  to  try  the  experiment  of  “  laying 
down  ”  eggs  during  this  month  for  winter  consumption. 
The  trouble  is  so  little,  the  expense  so  trivial,  and  the  con¬ 
venience  of  having  a  good  supply  of  eggs  for  puddings  and 
cakes  in  the  cold  weather  is  very,  very  great.  In  view,  too, 
of  the  possible  scarcity  of  fruit  for  preserving,  and  Apples 
for  pies,  a  good  many  housewives  'will  be  only  too  glad  to 
fall  back  on  the  useful  pudding,  milk  or  otherwise,  which 
is  always  enriched  and  improved  by  the  addition  of  an 
egg- 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
We  have  had  a  week  of  warm  growing  w-eather,  but  not  a 
very  large  amount  of  sunshine,  which  is  all  the  better,  for  the  - 
land  has  dried  gently  without  baking.  Farmers  have  been  very 
busy  in  many  ways.  Several  plots  of  Mangolds  have  been  sown ; 
thev  have  lost  a  fortnight,  which  often  means  a  considerable 
diminution  of  weight  if  the  summer  should  be  a  cold  one.  Still, 
the  delay  was  unavoidable,  and  late  Mangolds  are  better  than 
none. 
The  Mangolds,  which  were  drilled  early  here',  are  not  yet  above 
ground,  but  they  cannot  be  long  now.  We  have  ploughed  the 
field  Avhich  we  spoke  of  a  week  to  two  ago,  and  another  one  as 
well.  They  have  both  turned  up  a  beautiful  fine  Turnip  mould, 
and  much  drier  than  Ave  expected.  We  shall  staid  ridging  and 
manuring,  and  hope  to  have  some  Swedes  in  before  many  days 
hav-e  passed. 
Potatoes  are  coming  through,  and  Avill  not  be  long  before  they 
AA’ant  hoeing,  so  the  gang  of  spare  hands  Avill  have  to  hurry  over 
the  corn  Aveeding,  Avhich  has  made  good  progress  during  the  Aveek^ 
and  is  nearing  completion. 
Cabbages  have  groAvn  A-ery  fast,  and  so  have  the  Aveeds,  of 
Avhich  there  is  a  plentiful  second  crop ;  Ave  are  skerrying  betiveen 
the  roAVS,  and  then  the  aforesaid  gang  Avill  have  to  run  over  them. 
Horses  are  noAV  being  turned  out  to  grass,  but  Ave  have  not 
alloAved  our  Avorking  horses  to  lie  out  all  night  yet.  They  go  out 
for  a  couple  of  hours  in  the  evening,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days  Avill  lie  out  altogether.  It  is  Avell  to  avoid  Avet  Aveather  or 
foggy  nights  for  the  first  sleeping  out.  Lying  on  cold,  damp 
ground  does  more  harm  than  cold  Avinds.  The  she  hoggs  Avhich  are 
being  kept  for  breeding  purposes  have  been  Avashed  and  clipped. 
They  have  yielded  a  good  Aveight  of  avooI,  and  this  year’s  clip  is 
likely  to  be  heavy.  Plentiful  roots  and  a  mild  Avinter  have  both 
helped  the  production  of  avooL  All  aa-o  Avant  is  a  better  price 
for  it. 
The  stock  markets  have  been  rather  heavy  this  Aveek,  particu¬ 
larly  for  sheep  ;  good  fat  cattle  are  rather  plentiful  for  the  time  of 
year,  but  the  trade  for  them  is  steady  at  recent  prices,  and  there 
Avill  probably  be  a  rise  when  all  the  stalls  and  boxes  liaA-e  been 
cleared.  Young  cah-es  for  rearing  are  A'ory  dear,  in  fact  they  are 
most  difficult  to  find.  Farmers  are  eAudently  rearing  heavily,  so 
Ave  may  look  for  an  increase  in  our  cattle  number  Avhen  the  statis¬ 
tics  are  published. 
