EGGS FROM THE DOMINIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20644, 16 February 1929, Page 19

EGGS FROM THE DOMINIONS.

OUSTING FOREIGN RIVALS. (From Owe - Own Correspondent.) LONDON, January 5. Thanks to the growing efficiency of cpld storage methods (writes a Times correspondent) , time • and . distance ■ are fast becoming negligible ; in the transport of •perishable foodstuffs. As a result seasonal scarcities of primary products are 1 becoming yearly . leas marked. : .Though during the "winter months home supplies o( eggs are small, egg-production in South Africa,. Australia,, and New Zealand' : is then at its seasonal height, storage ~ enables these". Help " mdke good the. deficiency,, in . the Home: market.- - ■— -

'No fewer than 5700 million r egga : .are < cohsdined annually -in this'country. Of this huge total nearly* half-are-produced at Home, while • the remained.-are. imported, The share of the Empire ovetsea .in' the supply of eggs to the- United Kingdom is. however, at present .small compared with the imports.from foreign countries. ~ About 20 , per cent, of the eggs imported are from ‘the Irish Free State, 3 per' cent." from-other -Empire countries, and the balance from' foreign sources. There is, scope for bigger import of eggs from South Africa,. Austra-lia,-and New -Zealand- to . displace, those from foreign countries. . r : ■„

By developing and improving production and by' perfecting packing and transport methods, ..producers .oversea are' seeking to - increase the-. Empire- share- of- the .Home market. - • In. Australia,, for example, an exhaustive study has-been; made of cold storage as, applied to the transport of eggs, .As a result, eggs, from the Dominion, fresh as though, .they ! were straight ; from the - nesting - boxes,;, and cheaper in price than their foreign rivals, are now available in large quantities on the English market. - AUSTRALIAN BUGS.

■So- that- Australian eggs inn}' al'rive in the first-rate condition, experiments have been, carried out on a.coniprehensive scale; All the "conditions, governing; successful cold-storage— air circulation, and humidity—have' been', investigated. It has been found that for-the-transport, of’ eggs, 43" "degrees to 33; degrees Fahrenheit is the'ideal.'temperature. By shipping eggs at that temperature excellent results have heeu .obtained, and waste has been practically eliminated. .In earlier shipments 38 degrees to 40 degrees Fahrenheit was the temperature adopted; Hence the indifferent results. Many ; earlier ship-! ments of eggs, too", suffered from ati excess of humidity. Here, .again, -.the difficulty has been overcome, for. experiment has shown that success ;js- assured when "■ tenir perature and humidity are maintained-at a. uniform degree. ... ; r . •' Production plays an important:.part in. relation to cold ■ storage.- : Producers -in Australia, realise that thc.egga'.for cxnort must’ : he egg's" of good • quality and that the care-of-the eggs for coTd storage and transport begin on the farm. For" export purposes■ not' even the. hen herself - is trusted, On arrival at the depots every egg is tested "singly before a strong electric light, and scores are rejected, . even, though they reach the-packing station 24 hours old. So efficacious is the systepr followed that the Australian'Egg- Export Federation has found fit practicable to give a guarantee ■ that .-"air eggs exported under the principles, which it embodies are usable, and legislation is being sought to ensure, that eggs ,for local use .shall be similarly cool-stored and tested.'-'’ •