The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor WorkMiller, Mary Rogers
Philosophy
The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work
Miller, Mary Rogers
Agriculture -- Juvenile literature
AVA HOOKER
PRESERVING EGGS FOR WINTER USE
When eggs are cheap and plenty is the time when it will pay to preserve
some for winter use. Remember, though, that no amount of preserving, or
cold storing will make a fresh egg out of an old egg. As infertile eggs
keep better than fertile ones, it is well to separate the laying hens
from the roosters when the hatching season is over.
Cold storage is undoubtedly the best method for keeping eggs in
wholesale quantities, but for home consumption there is nothing more
satisfactory than a preservative called water glass which is _sodium
silicate_ and can be bought in crystal or liquid form at drug stores.
Prof. J. E. Rice of Cornell University says that "the liquid form is
very much to be preferred owing to the fact that it is very difficult
to dissolve the crystal. One part of water glass to nine parts of water
makes a liquid having a consistency not quite heavy enough to cause the
eggs to come to the surface, but still sufficiently strong to furnish
the coating which prevents the air from entering the shells."
Stone jars are recommended as inexpensive and not likely to leak.
Eggs taken out after nearly a year in the water glass and washed look
like fresh eggs. As to taste, a very fastidious person might find the
flavour not quite right when served as boiled eggs. In all other ways
they are entirely satisfactory.
With water glass, eggs can be preserved for less than two cents a
dozen. In communities where the price of eggs varies from a cent apiece
to four cents apiece it would be very profitable to preserve all the
surplus.
RAISING GUINEA FOWL
What would you expect if you ordered "American pheasant" from a bill
of fare in a London restaurant? No matter what you expected, when the
bird came onto the table it would be guinea hen! This is a dish you
probably never ate at home unless you live in the South, "where they
know what's good," or make a practice of dining at fashionable hotels
where they serve fancy game and poultry.
Most of the guinea fowls marketed in this country are put into cold
storage and sent to England. They also bring a good price in city
markets in this country.
Farm boys and girls all over the country are familiar with the strident
squawk and the furtive, hunching trot of the speckled guinea fowl. I
doubt if any farmer could tell why he harbours one on the premises,
unless it is to warn his chickens of the presence of danger. I know of
very few people in the North who eat either eggs or birds (if they know
it), and the young are very seldom seen. Here is a really valuable game
bird which silly prejudice is depriving of its fair share of attention.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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