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In the spring, when they are plentiful, eggs may be preserved for home use in a solution of water glass, so that those laid during the fall and winter season may be available for marketing. A standard grade of water glass can be obtained at drug stores for 75 cents per gallon, if bought in moderately large quantities. Each quart of water glass should be diluted with 10 quarts of water which has been boiled and cooled. Only strictly fresh, newly laid, clean eggs should be placed in the solution. The eggs may be packed in stone jars or crocks which have been washed thoroughly in scalding water and the water-glass solution poured over them, or the eggs may be placed daily in the solution by putting them down in it carefully by hand so as to avoid breaking or cracking them. The solution at all times should cover the eggs to a depth of at least 2 inches. The solution will not injure the hands. The jars should be put in a cool and preferably dark place before the eggs are deposited in them, and should not be moved, because breakage and loss may result. The water-glass solution may become cloudy, but this is a natural condition and should cause no alarm.

Fig. 2.—This illustration shows two 2-dozen size corrugated pasteboard egg boxes. The one to the left is closed. The other is taken apart to show construction. The two inner pieces of the case fold around the egg fillers and slip into the outer case shown on top. In filling, the box is not taken completely apart but only opened up properly.

Eggs thus kept are good for all purposes, but the shells break rather easily in boiling. This trouble can be prevented by puncturing the end of the shell with a pin or needle just before boiling. Perhaps an occasional customer will be willing to buy eggs preserved in water glass, but they should be sold for just what they are and at a price mutually agreed upon by the producer and customer.