EASTER WITHOUT EGGS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 171, 13 April 1908, Page 2

EASTER WITHOUT EGGS.

AN EMBARRASSING DILEMMA

A SEARCH FOR SUBSTITUTES.

There is no news of any abatement of the egg famine; and Easter is near. The rotail price of fresh' eggs ■in - Wellington to-day is from 2s. 2d. to 2s, 6d. per doscn, and many of these eggs apparently havo been imported fro id Jjuneain and other parts of the Dominion. Palmerston North reports a difficult;/ in getting supplies; and no doubt manv other places which have not yet reported are feeling the famine. Easter without eggs is not. a cheering prospect. It is as unappetising as bread without cheese, or —shall ,wo say?—water !without whisky. Those who are the most sorely hit are the bakers. Of all men who necessarily must' buy cheaply the bakers come easily first; and in waiting, in vain for tho drop to tcnpenco, at which stage to "buy up" supplies to "put down," they let themselves drift (so rumour says) difficulties. : And they are having now to compete among the buyers of fresh eggs at two shillings. All this is deliciously good for the ogg farmers. But even those worthy people havo cause for a little grumble. Peed has been so dear that they recently reduced their stccks of laying hens considerably, and their ability to take advantage of -the present demand for oggs is, therefore," ■ sadly limited. When we consider that the average egg yield at the Lincoln egg-laying con test was 150-eggis per lien for only 43 weeks ill the total nock of 288 birds; that these birds probably did not on joy the rango and freedom available on a farm ; that they were not selected trap-nested birds, but merely a chance flock bred, in some cases, from trap-nested parents; and that eggs froni' trap-nested parents can be bought; any day—'even from the Government—it becomes "starting); ' apparent that thero is money in fowls. The wholesale price of eggs in Wellington for some years past has averaged at ledst Is. 2d. a dozen, which, at the / moderate 'yield of ISO eggs for the full 52 weeks, would' yield 14s. 7d. per annum per bird. When one realises that there is' not the slightest sign of tho New Zealand egg production business being overdone, one must confess ( to a feeling that there is something wrong somewhere. '■Meanwhile consumers—and ;'particularly, bakers, 1 are/looking for substitutes.', There arc many preserved eggs, of highly mysterious qualities, on tho market—probably; the •Dunediii and' . Auckland ' varieties—and Chinese eggs, dried ■, eggs,', and tinned' eggs are also among u5...-■ It will be ; pleasing .to . egg farmers, to know that : tho' dried . egg is said to have met with-a-cold reception when put up in small tins', for the'grocery trado; Apparently citizens who go shopping do not easily take to'a crumbly dry commodity that is very' much like salmoncoloured chccsfl crumbs, • and not liko eggs at , all. ' But the bakers use tfiem. Then there' are tinned eggs, of which the'whites and the yolks are tinned separately. Both of these form of eggs aro said to make good, cheap, wholesome' substitutes for fresh eggs when correctly treated. But at present 'their use is'almost wholly confined to tradespeople. Chinese eggs-perhaps are eaten oftener. Wo have never known them retailed as Chinese. They are' said to be packed ' in.' huge casks 'in chaff,"or other absorbent material, which.is saturated,.with a secret fluid, known only to the Chinese. Those traders who havo handled' Chinese «®s . say this secret preservative surpasses tho' popular water glass in its,/preserving powers.. It would, therefore, be worth finding out. We have already in our midst a' 'gentleman 'who', f of'a f '.. guinea 1 , will tell yon how to tell tho number of oggs a hen ; will lay in'a "year. If we could ;.'only "add - to' our ''Knowledge tlie Chinese-secret of prcserviug'.those .oEgs." to, sell- them all. in- the' .famine season at 25.. a dozen—well, wc might' ,'alliplunge. into; tho egg business'.'