The ideal color of the crumb of wheat-flour bread is creamy. With the exception of breads made with cooked Irish potatoes, polished rice, white corn meal or corn flour, and the pure starches, the color of the mixed breads partakes more or less of the color characteristic of the substitute. Sweet potato and soy-bean meal yield a yellow loaf; banana flour, dasheen, milo, ordinary dried beans, etc., a gray; while many others produce a bread more or less gray brown. PUBLICATIONS OF THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RELAT- AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION BY THE DEPARTMENT. Special Flask for Rapid Determination of Water in Flour and Meal. (Department Importance and Character of Milled Rice Imported into United States. (Depart- Alaska and Stoner or Miracle Wheats. (Department Bulletin 357.) Intrinsic Value of Grain, Cottonseed, Flour, and Similar Products, Based on Dry- Experiments with Marquis Wheat. (Department Bulletin 400.) Improvement of Ghirka Spring Wheat in Yield and Quality. (Department Bulletin Experiments with Spring Cereals at Eastern Oregon Dry-Farming Substation, Moro, Characteristics and Quality of Montana-Grown Wheat. (Department Bulletin 522.) Experiments With Durum Wheat. (Department Bulletin 618.) The Chemical Analysis of Wheat-Flour Substitutes and of the Breads Made Therefrom. (Department Bulletin 701.) Marquis Wheat. (Farmers' Bulletin 732.) Bread and Bread Making. (Farmers' Bulletin 807.) How to Select Foods: I. What the Body Needs. (Farmers' Bulletin 808.) How to Select Foods: II. Cereal Foods. (Farmers' Bulletin 817.) Shallu or Egyptian Wheat. (Farmers' Bulletin 827.) Tri-Local Experiments on Influence of Environment on Composition of Wheat. (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 128.) Translocation of Plant Food and Elaboration of Organic Plant Material in Wheat Seed- FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, Experiments with Wheat, Oats, and Barley in South Dakota. Alum in Foods. (Department Bulletin 103.) Price, 5 cents. (Department Bulletir. Spring Wheat in Great Plains Area. (Department Bulletin 214.) Price, 10 cents. Origin, Characteristics, and Quality of Humpback Wheat. (Department Bulletin Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Foods. (Farmers' Bulletin 142.) Durum Wheat. (Farmers' Bulletin 534.) Price, 5 cents. Feeding Value of Cereals, as Calculated from Chemical Analyses. (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 120.) Price, 10 cents. Chemical Studies of American Barleys and Malts. (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 124.) Price, 20 cents. Proceedings of 28th Annual Convention of Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, Held at Washington, D. C., Nov. 20-22, 1911. (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 152.) Price, 35 cents. Graham Flour, Study of Physical and Chemical Differences Between Graham Flour and Imitation Graham Flours. (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 164.) Price, 10 cents. Studies on Digestibility and Nutritive Value of Bread at Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1899-1903. (Office of Experiment Stations Bulletin 143.) Price, 5 cents. Studies of Digestibility and Nutritive Value of Bread and Macaroni at University of Minnesota. 1903-1905. (Office of Experiment Stations Bulletin 156.) Price, 15 cents. Course in Cereal Foods and Their Preparation, for Movable Schools of Agriculture. (Office of Experiment Stations Bulletin 200.) Price, 10 cents. Commercial Status of Durum Wheat. (Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 70.) Price, 10 cents. Garlicky Wheat. (Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 100. Part 3.) Price, 5 cents. Experiments with Wheat Breeding. (Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 269.) Price, 15 cents. Handling Wheat from Field to Mill. (Bureau of Plant Industry Circular 68.) Method for Determination of Specific Gravity of Wheat and Other Cereals. (Bureau of Plant Industry Circular 99.) Price, 5 cents. Commercial Stocks of Wheat and Flour in United States, Aug. 31, 1917. (Secretary's Circular 100.) Price, 5 cents. Hard Wheats Winning Their Way. (Separate 649 from Year Book 1914.) Price, 10 cents. O UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BULLETIN No. 702 Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry Washington, D. C. September 12, 1918 EFFICIENCY OF COMMERCIAL EGG CANDLING. By M. K. JENKINS, Assistant Bacteriologist, assisted by C. A. BENGTSON, Investigator in Egg Handling. Prepared under the direction of M. E. PENNINGTON, Chief, Food Research Laboratory. It is common knowledge among those buying and selling eggs that grading by the candle is not an absolutely dependable method for the separation of good and bad eggs. As it is the best method known for determining the quality of eggs in the shell, however, it is important to learn its degree of efficiency. This bulletin aims to show the effectiveness of commercial candling in detecting different kinds of good and bad eggs, as well as the variations in efficiency of different candling forces. In a previous publication,' prepared as a guide to beginners wishing to learn how to candle eggs, detailed descriptions, accompanied in many instances by illustrations, are given of the different types of good and bad eggs of common occurrence. The classifications and descriptive terms given there are used in this publication. The purpose of the investigation here reported, then, may be summarized as follows: To find (1) the relative error in the candling of different types of good and bad eggs; (2) the relation of the quality of eggs to accuracy in candling; (3) the relative occurrence of bad eggs not to be found by candling; (4) the comparative degree of accuracy of skilled and unskilled candling crews. PLAN AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION. The investigation was carried on in commercial packing houses located in the Middle West and in distributing houses in the East. During warm weather the eggs under observation were kept in chillrooms, according to commercial practice, at a temperature of 32° to 40° F., from the time of receipt until the time of candling. This chilling serves to check deterioration and to restore to some extent the natural firmness of the egg substance. For grading, the eggs were removed to candling rooms which were refrigerated to a temperature of 50° to 55° F. After the eggs had been candled they were opened and graded in accordance with the standards for the preparation of frozen and dried eggs. The number of bad eggs not detected by candling was determined by observing the appearance and odor when opened in glass cups. The conclusions reached in this study were drawn from eggs so handled, which had been graded by commercial candlers according to trade routine. It was the endeavor to grade as edible all eggs with whole yolks which were not seeping, not heavily mottled, nor stuck to the shell, and which contained neither blood nor visible mold infection. Out of the shell an egg was graded as edible if the yolk was whole, the white clear and not colored, and the odor good. If the yolk membrane did not break until the egg was dropped in the grading cup, it was considered edible. The usual speed of candling was not changed, because it was desired to determine the accuracy of the process under commercial conditions. The eggs rejected by the candlers as unfit for food purposes were critically recandled to find any good eggs that might be present and the reason for their not being found on the first candling. In cases of doubt the eggs were opened. It was not considered necessary or desirable to check the candling of the unquestionably bad eggs by breaking. The studies reported were made on 187 cases (30 dozen each) of storage-packed eggs, 170.2 cases of refrigerator or cold-storage eggs, 174.4 cases of breaking stock, and 1,521.7 cases of rejected eggs, that is, "rots and spots." The observations on the storage-packed and refrigerator or cold-storage eggs were made from samples having a comparable history. On arrival in the East of carload shipments of commercial storage-packed eggs, from 8 to 20 cases were examined within a comparatively short period after receipt. About the same number |