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Palmor, Alaska
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Dorothy M» Bell, Dditor
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Published every woek at Palmer, ’Alaska, for the Hatanuska*,Valley Farmers1 Cooperating
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Association for tho purpooo. of giving news of. tho Associations work, problems and
Ac c omr>li n hmieii t s , and tho • dissemination of nous* of a public,character * „ if
SUBSCRIPTION)RATS w $1*V5 per yoar , * §1.00 for 6 nos. , , 10? a,copyr.
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b0liR EGG mfiRKET,.;
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Bcliovo it”.or not—there are eggs- and eags. * You might .think*at first that if your
eggs •aro. fresh from the chicken house.that thoy are fresh oggs, but ’that' l;s far from
tte’truth. If you had the opportunity of candling thousands of .them from a dozen or
moro; different faims, as the writer hacj you wculd see* how'greatly-eggs can vary in
quality. Eggs from two different farms, laid the same day, can be* as different as
two people. How docs this happen? All in tho way they-are'-handled. t '<?\\ ‘
You may feol that a lot of the advice* in care of eggs as handod out by magazines and
your own local paper is a lot of hooey, but once you look through these.eggs under a
strong light, you would be surprised at the big difference. And—furthermore, if this
evidence shows up so much under the candle light, how much difference will there be •
in these two eggs by tho tine tho consumer gets then?
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VJhcn that egg 7/as laid, it v/as fresh—and it was clean. In ordor to keep it that way,
it must be collected from the laying house before it goth dirty and before too many
hens have sat on it while getting ready to lay more eggs. . Once gathered it must be •/.
cooled at once. VJhcn laid it had a temperature of over.lOO. If left in the hen house
to cool off gradually and perhpas be reheated several times during the day by other hens
it begins to deteriorate rapidly. First, some of the moisture evaporates‘from tho egg,
enlarging the air cell. The air cell in a strictly fresh egg hardly shows. It should
bo no larger‘than a dime. Second, the yolk becomes darker and the whole egg wcaker'so
that the yolk drops to the point of the egg.* This puts your egg in what is knovTn as
the Trade Class so far as eggs are concerned. Your Co-op does not buy this grado of
oggs. Tin yolk in a strictly fresh egg hardly shows under cahdle light.
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Now-even though you may be very careful to gather vour eggs of ton, you may* fail in the
proper handling of thoso eggs. Don't expect them to cool quickly in a pail. They
should be gathered in a‘wire basket so that air can reach .them and cooled before putting
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thorn into cases for the market. A wire tray is good to spredd them out on until th6y
aro cool..' • . j.* Another Important point is to put them in the cases prop or ly.
Eggs should not bo packed with the snail end up. Tho air cell is on the larg e end
and should bo up oo that the ggg can breathe properly. Packed denvn the air cell may
break raid whon it reaches the candler it goes back to" the 'producer as a Trade egg.Thqy
are nil right to use in cooking at home, but the market does not.* want -thant,. •' ;
Keep your oggo v/hore they will-not take on odors from other foods or such things as
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kerosono and gasoline. Eggs roadily absorb bad flavors from onions, potatoes, and
fruit. This is not diocornable under the candle lifht’, but the consumer'aan taste it
and you cannot, afford to lose customers. Fillers -in which the oggs are packed should*
be renewed frequently, as they may contribute to bad flavor in the eggs.
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Finally, market your eggs ofton. They Should be marketed at least twice a rook.
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^11.thi3 may,sound unimportant to you-—tut it is of vital importance if the farmers '
in t ho .Valley-wish to “hold the'market. E y%, o tiro new available from tiie States by air,
end from Canada by truck a3 fresh as those -produced in the Valiev. Better mans of
transport at ion- is making this possible. • Remember, the east, coast of the Ur.itod States
began* buying Vest Coast eggs because of the better quality of eggs producod on the Viest
Codst.^Tue sene con happon to Alaska. ' ' •
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Last nook a big truck load-of eggs arrivod'from Canada and was dunpod on the Anchorage
market, at much 103s than rhat the llatanuskn V/iiley egg's are sold. *70 had some of there
oggs in the candling room on ^ionday of this reek. Vo candled thorn nn.d we at o' some of
tnoa.*. Under the* candle light re found that the air cells had broken down, but other*
-hon that they had a fresh appearance, Uhcn re broke thorn op^n, re found that some had
a Good .firm .round yolk and* others flattened out aid the yolk broke. The flavor ras
not "too* bad, Tke30 oggs had come ovor a bad road*. Fut a good smooth Highway between
here pnd the place of production of those oggs and the quality would be improved a
Great* deal.' Ihoy offer the Hatanuska Valley farmer stiff competition-add then rhero
rill cur markot bo?00??? • • ‘ * *’ • • * *
‘T is all stacks up to the fact that re must put the best possible egg on the market,
Koop then 7RZSH and CLZAH. UuBKZT CTEEI. And DON'T meddle uncar.died eggs on the mar
ket. If you could so» firm of the b»d efjrr that the c and lor rear, you would reel ire