Fig. 4.—This photograph shows a fiber-board box filled with corrugated-pasteboard lining and fillers, or partitions, of the same material. Each egg has a wrap of one-faced corrugated pasteboard. The lining is raised to show the eggs; it shows dark against the lid.
Trials of many different styles and makes of containers or cartons for shipping eggs by parcel post were made. Quite a number proved satisfactory in extended trials. A few of them are illustrated in these pages for the purpose of showing in a general way their appearance and construction. Any container which meets the postal requirements and which serves the purpose properly can be used.
Information Relative to Securing Containers
The experiment stations in the various States have information as to containers for parcel-post shipments of eggs, in consumer-size lots, and persons desiring information of this kind should not address the United States Department of Agriculture, but should address the director of the experiment station in their own States. The following list gives the post-office address of each station:
- Alabama:
- Auburn.
- Tuskegee Institute.
- Alaska: Sitka.
- Arizona: Tucson.
- Arkansas: Fayetteville.
- California: Berkeley.
- Colorado: Fort Collins.
- Connecticut:
- New Haven.
- Storrs.
- Delaware: Newark.
- Florida: Gainesville.
- Georgia: Experiment.
- Guam: Guam.
- Hawaii: Honolulu.
- Idaho: Moscow.
- Illinois: Urbana.
- Indiana: Lafayette.
- Iowa: Ames.
- Kansas: Manhattan.
- Kentucky: Lexington.
- Louisiana: Baton Rouge.
- Maine: Orono.
- Maryland: College Park.
- Massachusetts: Amherst.
- Michigan: East Lansing.
- Minnesota: University Farm, St. Paul.
- Mississippi: Agricultural College.
- Missouri: Columbia.
- Montana: Bozeman.
- Nebraska: Lincoln.
- Nevada: Reno.
- New Hampshire: Durham.
- New Jersey: New Brunswick.
- New Mexico: State College.
- New York:
- Geneva.
- Ithaca.
- North Carolina: Raleigh.
- North Dakota: Agricultural College.
- Ohio: Wooster.
- Oklahoma: Stillwater.
- Oregon: Corvallis.
- Pennsylvania: State College.
- Porto Rico: Mayaguez.
- Rhode Island: Kingston.
- South Carolina: Clemson College.
- South Dakota: Brookings.
- Tennessee: Knoxville.
- Texas: College Station.
- Utah: Logan.
- Vermont: Burlington.
- Virginia: Blacksburg.
- Washington: Pullman.
- West Virginia: Morgantown.
- Wisconsin: Madison.
- Wyoming: Laramie.
Packing Eggs for Shipment
The eggs for packing, if the trade requires it or if it can be done without any disadvantage, should be assorted as to size and color. Eggs irregular in shape, those which are unusually long or thin-shelled, or which have shells otherwise defective, should be kept by the producer for home use, so that breakage in transit may be reduced as much as possible.
Regardless of the particular style or design of the container used, each egg should be wrapped according to parcel-post requirements, so that it will not shake about. Square-block tissue paper, which comes in packages of 500 sheets each, soft wrapping paper, or newspaper, should be used around each egg. Should the eggs shake about in the container, the danger of breakage in handling is increased.
From the experimental shipments that have been made, it is clear that the packing should be attended to carefully. A little practice will enable the packer to do his work rapidly.