Because of this fact, the freshness of eggs can be determined by placing
them in water. When they are fresh, they will sink in cold water, but as
they decompose they become lighter and will float.
Since it is known that the spoiling of eggs is due to the entrance of
air through the porous shell, it may be inferred that their decay may be
prevented either by protecting the shell so that air cannot enter or by
keeping the eggs at so low a temperature that bacteria cannot grow.
Although stored eggs always deteriorate more or less, both of these
methods of preservation have proved very satisfactory, the former being
used largely in the home and the latter finding its solution in cold
storage. A knowledge of how eggs can be preserved, however, is of great
value, for if there were no means of preservation and eventual
marketing, the price of eggs would at times rise to actual
prohibitive limits.
3. That eggs as an article of food are growing in importance is
indicated by the fact that their production has come to be a large and
widely distributed industry. Owing to the private consumption and sale
of eggs, an accurate statement of the number of eggs produced is
difficult to give. Still, in a report, the United States Bureau of
Agriculture estimated the value of the yearly egg production at
something more than three million dollars, with an allowance of about
210 eggs, or 17-1/2 dozen, per capita each year, or 4 eggs a week for
each person. These figures, however, are only suggestive of the
production, use, and value of eggs, for as the population increases so
does the use of eggs.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105