Chapter 28

HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED

The methods by which the larger number of American eggs pass from the producer to consumer is as follows:

The eggs are gathered by the farmer with varying regularity and are brought perhaps on the average of once a week, to the local village merchant.

This merchant receives weekly quotations from a number of surrounding egg dealers and at intervals of from two days to two weeks, ships to such a dealer, by local freight. The dealer buys the eggs case count, that is, he pays for them by the case regardless of quality. He then repacks the eggs in new cases and, with the exception of a period in the early spring, candles them.

This dealer, in turn, receives quotations from city egg houses and sells to them by wire. He usually ships in carload lots. The city receiver may also be a jobber who sells to grocers, or he may sell the car outright to a jobbing house. The jobber re-candles the eggs, sorting them into a number of grades, which are sold to various classes of trade. The last link in the chain is the housewife, who by 'phone or personal call, asks for "a dozen nice fresh eggs."

This most frequently repeated story of the American egg applies particularly in the case of eggs produced west of the Mississippi and marketed in the very large cities of the East.

We will now discuss the various steps of the egg trade, pointing out the reason for the existence of the present methods and their influence upon quality and consequent value.

The Country Merchant.

The country merchant is the logical business link between the farmer and the outside world and usually continues to act as the farmers' buyer and seller until the commodity dealt in becomes of such importance as to demand more specialized form of marketing. Eggs being a perishable crop continuously produced, must be marketed at frequent intervals, and the trips to the general store, necessary to supply the household needs, offers the only convenient opportunity for such marketing.

The merchant buys eggs because by doing so he can control his selling trade.

The farmer trades where he sells his eggs, because it is convenient to do both errands at one place, and also because he wishes to avoid affronting the merchant by breaking the established custom of trading out the amount.

For these reasons the merchant knows that to buy eggs means to sell goods, and he therefore bids for eggs. His competitors across the street, and in other towns, also bid for eggs. The effect to the merchant of lowering the price of his goods or raising the price of eggs is financially the same. In either case it is the matter of cutting the prices under the spur of competition. Now, the articles on which the merchant make his chief profits from the farmers' trade are dry goods and notions. Such articles are not standardized, but vary in a manner quite impossible of estimation by the unsophisticated. On the other hand, eggs are quoted by the dozen, and all that run may read.

Suppose, for illustration, two merchants in the same town are each doing a business with a twenty per cent. profit, and are buying eggs at ten cents and selling for eleven, the cent advance being sufficient to pay for their labor, incidental loss, and a small profit. Now one merchant concludes to play for more trade. If he marks his goods down he would gain some trade, but many people would fear his goods were cheap. But if he puts up a placard, "Eleven Cents Paid For Eggs," the farmers will throng his store and never question the quality of his goods. This move having been successful, his rival across the street quietly stocks up with a cheaper line of dry goods, and some fine morning puts out a card, "Twelve Cents For Eggs." The farm wagons this week will be hitched on the other side of the street.

The rate of business at ten per cent, being insufficient to maintain two men in the town, a mutual understanding is gradually brought about by which the prices of goods sold are worked back to the basis of twenty per cent, gross profit, but the false price of eggs will serve to draw the trade from neighboring towns and is therefore maintained.

As a matter of fact the price paid to farmers for eggs by the general stores of the Mississippi Valley is frequently one to two cents above the price at which the storekeeper sells the product. Allowing the cost of handling, we have a condition prevailing in which the merchant is handling eggs at from five to ten per cent. loss, and it stands to reason that he is making up the loss by adding that per cent. to his profits on his goods. Some of the effects of this system are:

1--The inflated prices of merchandise is an injustice to the townspeople and to farmers not selling produce, in fact it amounts to a taxation of these people for the benefit of the egg producers. 2--The inflated prices of merchant's wares work to his disadvantage in competition with mail order or out-of-town trade. 3--The farmer who exchanges eggs for dry goods is not being paid more for his eggs, save as the tax on the townspeople contributes a little to that end, but is in the main merely swapping more dollars. 4--The use of eggs as a drawing card for trade works in favor of inferior produce, and the loss to the farmer through the lowering of prices thus caused, is much greater than his gain through the forced contributions of his neighbors.

The Huckster.

The huckster or peddling wagon which gathers eggs and other produce directly from the farm, prevail east and south of a line drawn from Galveston to Chicago through Texarkana, Ark., Springfield, Mo., and St. Louis. North and west of this line the huckster is almost unknown.

The huckster wagons may be of the following types:

1--An extension of the local grocery store, trading merchandise for eggs. 2--An independent traveling peddler. 3--A cash dealer who buys his load, and hauls it to the nearest city where he peddles the produce from house to house or sells it to city grocers. 4--A representative of the local produce buyer. 5--A fifth style of egg wagon does not visit the farm at all, but is a system of rural freight service run by a produce buyer for the purpose of collecting the eggs from country stores.

As far as the quality of product and advantage to the farmer is concerned, the fourth style of huckster is preferable. This style exists chiefly in Indiana and Michigan, and the better settled regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. The writer found hucksters in southern Michigan working on a profit of one-half a cent per dozen, while in the mountains of Tennessee he found a huckster paying ten cents for eggs that were worth eighteen cents in Chattanooga, and twenty-three cents in New York.

The huckster scheme of gathering eggs would seemingly be a means of obtaining good eggs because of the advantage of regularity of collection, but in reality it does not always work out that way. While it must be admitted that in the isolated regions of the Middle and Southern States the presence of the huckster is the only factor that makes egg selling possible, it is also true that the peddling huckster of those regions usually disregards the first principles of handling perishable products. He makes a week's trip in sun and rain with his load of produce, with the result that the quality of his summer eggs is about as low as can be found.

In the more densely populated region with a twice or thrice a week, or even daily service, the huckster egg becomes the finest farm grown egg in the market.

The second step in the usual scheme of egg marketing is the sale of eggs collected by the small storekeeper to the produce man or shipper.

The Produce Buyer.

Throughout the Mississippi Valley there are wholesale produce houses at all important railroad junctions. A typical house will ship the produce of one to three counties. These houses, once a week or oftener, send out postal card quotations. These quotations read so much per case, and are usually case count, with a reservation, however, of the privilege to reject or charge loss on goods that are utterly bad. Each grocery receives quotations from one to a dozen such houses, and perhaps also from commission firms in the nearest city. The highest of these quotations gets the shipment.

The buyer repacks the eggs and usually candles them, the strictness of the grading depending upon the intended destination. The loss in candling is generally kept account of, but is seldom charged back to the shipper. The egg man wants volume of business, and if he antagonizes a shipper by charging up his loss, the usual result will be the loss of trade. So the buyer estimates his probable loss and lowers his price enough to cover it.

By loss off, or "rots out," is meant the subtraction of the bad eggs from the number to be paid for. Buying on a candled or graded basis, usually not only means rots cut, but that a variation of the price is made for two or more grades of merchantable eggs.

Much discussion prevails among the western egg buyers as to whether eggs should be bought loss off or case count. Loss off buying seems to be more desirable and just, but in practice is fraught with difficulties.

If the loss off buyer feels he is losing business, he may instruct his candler to grade more closely, which means he will pay less. Whether done with honest or dishonest intention, the buyer thus sets the price to be paid after he has the goods in his own hands, and this is an obviously difficult commercial system.

Where the buyer in one case changes the grading basis to protect himself, there are probably ten cases where the eggs really deserve the loss charged; but the tenth chance gives the seller an opportunity to nurse his loss with the belief that he has been robbed by the buyer. Such an uncertain feeling is disagreeable, and the results are that where one or two competing egg dealers buys loss off, and the other case count, the case count man will get most of the business.

The case count method being the path of least resistance, the loss off system can only succeed where there is some factor that overcomes the disinclination of a shipper to let the other man set the price. This factor may be: 1st--An exceptional reputation of a particular firm for honesty and fair dealing. 2d--Exceptional opportunities for selling fancy goods, enabling the loss off buyer to pay much higher rates for good stuff. 3d--A condition that prevails in the South in the summer, where the losses are so heavy that the dealers will not take the risk involved in case count buying. 4th--Some sort of a monopoly.

A monopoly for enforcing the loss off system of buying has been brought about in some sections of the West by agreement among egg dealers. In such cases the usual experience has been that some one would get anxious for more business, and begin quoting case count, the result being that he would get the business of the disgruntled shippers in his section. When one buyer begins quoting case count, the remainder rapidly follow suit and case count buying is quickly re-established.

The City Distribution of Eggs.

In name, city egg dealers are usually commission houses, but in practice the majority of large lots of eggs are now bought by telegraph and the prices definitely known before shipment.

In the larger cities eggs are dealt in by a produce board of trade. Such exchanges frequently have rules of grading and an official inspector. This gives stability to egg dealing and largely solves the problem of uncertainty as to quality, so annoying to the country buyer. In the city even, where official grading is not resorted to, personal inspection of the lot by the buyer is practical, and one may know what he is getting.

In many cases, especially in smaller cities, the receiver is the jobber and sells to the grocers. In larger cities the receiver sells to a firm who makes a business of selling them to groceries, restaurants, etc.

The jobber grades the eggs as the trade demands. In a western city this may mean two grades--good and bad; in New York, it may mean seven or eight grades, and the finer of these ones being packed in sealed cartons, perhaps each egg stamped with the dealer's brand.

The city retailer of eggs include grocers, dairies, butcher shops, soda fountains, hotels, restaurants and bakeries. The soda fountain trade and the first-class hotel are among the high bidder for strictly first-class eggs. Many such institutions in eastern cities are supplied directly from large poultry farms. The figures at which such eggs are purchased are frequently at a given premium above the market quotation, or a year round contract price for a given number of eggs per week. This premium over common farm eggs may range from one or two cents in western cities, to five to twenty cents in New York and Boston. An advance of ten cents over the quotation for extras or a year round contract price of thirty-five cents per dozen, might be considered typical of such arrangements in New York City.

Some of the larger chain grocers in New York City are in the market for strictly fresh eggs and have even installed buying departments in charge of expert egg men.

The great bulk of eggs move through the channels of the small restaurant, bakery and grocery. In the small cities of the Central West the grocer handles eggs at a margin of one to three cents. In the South and farther West the margin is two to seven cents, the retail price always being in the even nickel. In the large eastern city there exists the custom unknown in the West of having two or more grades of eggs for sale in the same store. All eggs offered for sale are claimed by the salesman to be "strictly fresh" or the "best," and yet these eggs may vary if it be April from fifteen cents to forty cents, or if in December from thirty cents to seventy-five cents per dozen. The New York grocers' profit is from two to five cents on cheap eggs, but runs higher on high grade eggs, frequently reach twenty cents a dozen and sometimes going as high as forty cents for very fancy stock.

City retailing is by far the most expensive item in the marketing of eggs. As an illustration of the profits of the various handlers of eggs might be as follows:

Paid the farmer in Iowa $.15 Profit of country store .00 Gross profit of shipper .00-3/4 Freight to New York .01-1/2 Gross profit of receiver .00-1/2 Gross profit of jobber .01-1/2 Loss from candling .01-1/2 Gross profit of retailer .04-1/2 ------- Cost to consumer $.25

The cheapest grade of eggs sold are taken by bakeries and for cooking purposes at restaurants. When cooked with other food an egg may have its flavor so covered up that a very repulsive specimen may be used. Measures have been frequently taken by city boards of health to stop the sale of spot rots and other low grade eggs. The great difficulty with such regulations is that they are difficult of enforcement because no line of demarcation can be drawn as in the case of adulterated or preserved products.

That embryo chicks and bacterially contaminated eggs are consumed by the million cannot be doubted, but the individual examination of each egg sold would be the only way in which the food inspectors can prevent their use. The egg from the well-kept flock whose subsequent handling has been conducted with intelligence and dispatch is the only egg whose "purity" is assured with or without law. The encouragement of such production and such handling is the proper sphere of governmental regulations in regard to this product.

Cold Storage of Eggs.

The supply of eggs ranges from month to month, the heavy season of production centering about April and the lightest run being in November. The cold storage men begin storing eggs in March or April and continue to store heavily until June, after which time the quality deteriorates and does not keep well in storage. This storage stock begins to move out in September and should be cleaned up by December. Great loss may result if storage eggs are held too long.

The effect of the storage business is to even up the prices for the year. The reduction of the exceedingly high winter prices is unfortunate for those who are skilled enough to produce many eggs at that season of the year, but on a whole the storage business adds to the wealth-producing powers of the hen, for it serves to increase the annual consumption of eggs and prevents eggs from becoming a drug on the market during the season of heavy production.

March and April eggs are, in spite of a long period of storage, the best quality of storage stock. This is accounted for by the fact that owing to cooler weather and rising price eggs leave the farm in the best condition at this season of the year.

Because eggs are spoiled by hard freezing, they must be kept at a higher temperature than meat and butter. Temperatures of from 29 degrees to 30 degrees F. are used in cold storage of eggs. At such temperatures the eggs, if kept in moist air, become moldy or musty. To prevent this mustiness the air in a first class storage room is kept moderately dry. This shrinks the eggs, though much more slowly than would occur without storage.

The growth of bacteria in cold storage is practically prevented, but if bacteria are in the eggs when stored they will lie dormant and begin activity when the eggs are warmed up.

Of the cold storage egg as a whole we can say it is a wholesome food product, though somewhat inferior in flavor and strength of white to a fresh egg. The cold storage egg can be very nearly duplicated in appearance and quality by allowing eggs to stand for a week or two in a dry room. Cold storage eggs, when in case lots, can be told by the candler because of the uniform shrinkage, the presence of mold on cracked eggs and perhaps the occasional presence of certain kinds of spot rots peculiar to storage stock, but the absolute detection of a single cold storage egg, so far as the writer knows, is impossible.

It may be further said that with the present prevailing custom of holding eggs without storage facilities for the fall rise of price, eggs placed in cold storage in April are frequently superior to the current fall and early winter receipts. Cold storage eggs are generally sold wholesale as cold storage goods, but are retailed as "eggs." The fall eggs offered to the consumer cover every imaginable variation in quality and the poorest ones sold may be a cold storage product, or they may not be.

The Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture has recently announced the finding of certain crystals in the yolks of cold storage eggs that are not present in the fresh stock. This finding of a laboratory method of detecting cold storage stock was at first taken to be a great discovery. Further investigation, however, indicates that the crystal mentioned forms as the egg ages and that the rate of formation varies with the individual eggs and probably also with the temperature, so that while crystals may indicate an aged egg, the discovery only means that the microscopist in the laboratory can now do in a half hour what any egg candler in his booth can do in ten seconds.

At the present writing (February, 1909) there has been much talk of laws against the sale of cold storage eggs as fresh. The Federal Pure Food Commission, under the general law against misbranding, have made one such prosecution. Many States have agitated such laws but little or nothing has been done. I find that the idea of such a law is quite popular, especially with poultrymen. Contrary to popular opinion, the cold storage men and larger egg dealers are not opposed to the law. The people that are hit are the small dealers and especially the city grocers. These fellows buy the eggs at wholesale storage prices and sell them at retail prices for fresh, thus making excessive profits but cutting down the amount of the sales. This lessens the demand for storage stock and lowers the wholesale price. This is the reason the wholesaler and warehouse man are in favor of the law.

We may all grant that the opportunity given the small dealers to grab quick gains and in so doing hurt the trade ought to be abolished. But how are we to do it? "Have State and Federal branding of the cases as they go into or come out of storage," says one--an excellent plan, to be sure by which the grocers could buy one case of fresh, eggs and a back room full of storage goods and do Elijah's flour barrel trick to perfection.

Clearly government inspection and stamping of each egg is the only method that would be effective and the consideration of what this means turns the whole matter into a joke. The official inspection now maintained by the boards of trade of the larger cities may be extended and the producers, dealers and consuming public may be educated to appreciate quality in eggs, as they have been in dairy products. City and State laws may also be made which will taboo the sale of spot eggs or eggs that will float on water. Meanwhile, a great opportunity is open for the man who has high grade eggs for sale, whether he be producer or tradesman.

Many eggs that would not do for ordinary storage are preserved by direct freezing. These eggs are broken and carefully sorted and placed in large cans and then frozen. Such a product is disposed of to bakers, confectioners and others desiring eggs in large quantities. Another method of preserving eggs is by evaporation. Evaporated or dried egg is, weight considered, about the most nourishing food product known. The chief value of such an article lies in provisioning inaccessible regions. There is no reason, however, why this product should not become a common article of diet during the season of high prices of eggs. Dried eggs can be eaten as custards, omelets, or similar dishes.

Preserving Eggs Out of Cold Storage.

Occasional articles have been printed in agricultural papers calling attention to the fact that the cold storage men were reaping vast profits which rightfully belonged to the farmer. Such writers advise the farmer to send his own eggs to the storage house or to preserve them by other means.

As a matter of fact the business of storing eggs has not of late years been particularly profitable, there being severe losses during several seasons; Even were the profit of egg storing many times greater than they are the above advice would still be unwise, for the storing, removing and selling of a small quantity of eggs would eat up all possible profit.

The only reliable methods of preserving eggs outside of cold storage are as follows:

Liming: Make a saturated solution of lime, to which salt may be added, let it settle, dip off the clear liquid, put the eggs in while fresh, keep them submerged in the liquid and keep the liquid as cold as the available location will permit.

Water glass: This is exactly the same as liming except that the solution used is made by mixing ten per cent. of liquid water glass or sodium silicate with water.

Liming eggs was formerly more popular than it is to-day. There are still two large liming plants in this country and several in Canada. In Europe both lime and water glass are used on a more extensive scale.

All limed or water glassed eggs can be told at a glance by an experienced candler. They pop open when boiled. When properly preserved they are as well or better flavored than storage stock, but the farmer or poultryman will make frequent mistakes and thus throw lots of positively bad eggs on the market. These eggs must be sold at a low price themselves, and by their presence cast suspicion on all eggs, thus tending to suppress the price paid to the producers. The farmers' efforts to preserve eggs has in this way acted as a boomerang, and have in the long run caused more loss than gain to the producers.

For the poultryman with his own special outlet for high grade goods, the use of pickling or cold storage is generally not to be considered for fear of hurting his trade. Any scheme that would help to overcome the difficulty of getting sufficient fresh eggs to supply such customers in the season of scarcity would be of great advantage. The proposition of pickling a limited number of eggs and selling them for "cooking" purposes, explaining just what they are, ought to offer something of a solution, although, to the writer's knowledge, it has not been done.

Improved Methods of Marketing Farm-Grown Eggs.

The loss to the farmers of this country from the careless handling of eggs is something enormous. No great or sudden change in this state of affairs can be brought about, but a few points on how this loss may be averted will not be out of order.

Numerous efforts have recently been made in western states to prevent the sale of bad eggs by law. Minnesota began this work by arresting several farmers and dealers. The parties invariably pleaded guilty. A number of other States followed the example of Minnesota in challenging the sale of rotten eggs, but few prosecutions were made.

Such laws mean well enough, but the only efficient means of enforcing them would be to have food inspectors who are trained as practical candlers.

The present usefulness of the laws is in calling the attention of the farmer to the mistake that he may be carelessly committing, and in placing over him a fear of possible disgrace in case of arrest and prosecution.

The weakness of the law is the difficulty of its enforcement because of the number of violations, and the difficulty of drawing distinct lines in regard to which eggs are to be considered unlawful.

Education of the farmer as to the situation is, of course, the surest means of preventing the loss, but the education of ten millions of farmers is easier to suggest than to execute. The most effective plan of education would be the introduction of a method of buying eggs similar to the one in vogue in Denmark, in which every producer is paid strictly in accordance with the quality of his eggs.

With our complicated system involving five to six dealers between the producer and the consumer, such a system is well nigh impossible. With the introduction of co-operative buying or the community system of production, paying for quality becomes entirely possible.

For enterprising farming communities, the following plans offer a cure for the evil of general store buying that take good and bad alike and causes the worthy farmer to suffer for the carelessness and dishonesty of his neighbor.

First: The encouragement of the cash buying of produce, and, if possible, the candling of all eggs with proper deduction for loss.

Second: The buying of eggs by co-operative creameries. The greatest difficulty in this has been the opposition of the merchants, who through numerous ways available in a small town, may retaliate and injure the creamery patronage to an extent greater than the newly installed egg business will repay.

Third: The agreement of the merchants to turn all egg buying over to a single produce buyer. This has been successfully done in a few instances, but there are not many towns in which those interested will stick to such an agreement. The worst fault with this plan is that the moment the egg buyer is given a monopoly he is tempted to lower the farmer's prices for the purpose of increasing his own profits.

Fourth: A modification of the above scheme is the case in which the produce buyer is on a salary and in the employment of the merchants. This scheme has been successfully carried into effect in some Nebraska towns. It may be the ultimate solution of the egg buying in the West. It eliminates the temptation of the buyer to use his privilege of monopoly to fatten his own pocket-book. The weakness of the plan is that a salaried man's efficiency in the close bargaining necessary to sell the goods is inferior to that of the man trading for himself. Other difficulties are: Getting a group of merchants who will live up to such an agreement; the farmers object to driving to two places; the competition of other towns; the merchants' realization that, the farmer with cash in his pocket or a check good at all stores, is not as certain a trader as one standing, egg basket on arm, before the counter; and last, and most convincing, the merchant's further realization that any fine Saturday morning, with eggs selling at fifteen cents at the produce house, he may stick out a card "Sixteen Cents Paid for Eggs" and make more money in one day than his competitors did all week.

Fifth: Co-operative egg buying by the farmers themselves. This has been discussed in a previous chapter. It is all right in localities where the business is big enough to warrant it and the farmers are intelligent and enthusiastic to back it up and stick to it.

The High Grade Egg Business.

There are many excellent opportunities for men of moderate capital and ability in the high grade egg trade. The produce business on its present line, either at the country end or at the city end, is as open as any well-known form of business enterprise can be. The chances of success for a man new to the trade will be better, however, if he can find a niche in the business where he may crowd in and establish himself before the old firms realize what is up. The proposition of buying high grade eggs from producers and selling direct to consumers is a proposition of this kind.

The little game of existence is chiefly one of apeing our betters and strutting before the lesser members of the flock. The large cities are full of people in search of some way to display their superior wealth, taste and exclusiveness. If an ingenious dealer takes a dozen eggs from common candled stock, places them in a blue lined box and labels them "Exquisite Ovarian Deposital," he can sell quite a few of them at a long price, but the game has its limits. Now, let this man secure a truly high grade article from reliable producers, teach his customers the points that actually distinguish his eggs from common stock, and he can get not only the sucker trade above referred to but a more satisfactory and permanent trade from that class of people who are willing to pay for genuine superiority but whose ears have not quite grown through their hats.

An express messenger running out of St. Louis became interested in the egg trade. He arranged with a few country friends to ship him their eggs. These he candled in his house cellar and began selling them to a limited trade in the wealthy section of the city. At first he delivered the eggs himself. This was in the World's Fair year of 1904. In 1908 he did a $100,000 worth of business and his type of business shows a much better percentage of profit than that of the ordinary type of dealer.

In Chicago, one of the large dairy companies established an egg department and placed a young man in charge of it. The eggs in this case are not bought of farmers but are secured from country produce buyers whom the Chicago company have encouraged to educate their farmers to bring in a high grade of goods. These people buy their eggs in Tennessee in the winter and in Minnesota in the summer, thus getting the best eggs the year round. They sell by wagon on regular routes. The business is growing nicely and pays good profits.

Other similar concerns are operating in Chicago and other large cities. They are not numerous, however, and there is room for more. The reason the business has not been overdone is chiefly because of the difficulty of getting sufficiently really high grade eggs in the season of scarcity. Southern winter eggs are destined to relieve this situation more and more.

Another great difficulty with a plan that attempts to buy eggs directly from the producer is that premium offered on the goods tempts the farmer to go out and buy up eggs from his neighbors. This brings disastrous results in the quality of the goods and the farmer must be dropped from the list. In order to make a success, a system of buying directly from producers must be based upon a grading scheme that will pay for the actual quality of the eggs. No fear then need be exercised as to whether the farmer sells his own eggs or those of his neighbor.

The following extract from Farmer's Bulletin 128 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been used as advertising "dope" in the sale of high grade eggs:

"Under certain conditions eggs may be the cause of illness by communicating some bacterial disease or some parasite. It is possible for an egg to become infected with micro-organisms, either before it is laid or after. The shell is porous, and offers no greater resistance to micro-organisms which cause disease than it does to those which cause the egg to spoil or rot. When the infected egg is eaten raw the microorganisms, if present, are communicated to man and may cause disease. If an egg remains in a dirty nest, defiled with the micro-organisms which cause typhoid fever, carried there on the hen's feet or feathers, it is not strange if some of these bacteria occasionally penetrate the shell and the egg thus becomes a possible source of infection. Perhaps one of the most common troubles due to bacterial infection of eggs is the more or less serious illness sometimes caused by eating those which are 'stale.' This often resembles ptomaine poisoning, which is caused, not by micro-organisms themselves, but by the poisonous products which they elaborate from materials on which they grow.

"In view of this possibility, it is best to keep eggs as clean as possible and thus endeavor to prevent infection. Clean poultry-houses, poultry-runs and nests are important, and eggs should always be stored and marketed under sanitary conditions. The subject of handling food in a cleanly manner is given entirely too little attention."

The reprint upon the succeeding pages will give some idea of the advertising literature used in selling high grade eggs. This is a copy of a hand-bill inserted in the egg boxes of a prominent Chicago dealer:

* * * * *

MOORE'S BREAKFAST EGGS

are guaranteed to be perfect in quality when you receive them and to remain so until all eaten up. If for any reason they are not satisfactory return the Eggs to your dealer and get your money back.

(Signature.)

WE URGE YOU

to assist us in our endeavor to furnish you at all times with the finest Eggs by being careful to

KEEP THEM DRY

A damp "filler" will in 24 hours make the finest fresh Eggs taste like old Cold Storage Eggs.

The flavor of an Egg cannot be detected even by the powerful electric lights used to inspect every Egg in this package, so it might be possible for a "strong" Egg to get by our inspectors, but in the past the cause of nearly every complaint has been traced to the consumer's ice box or pantry window sill.

REMEMBER

Eggs are 25c-40c per doz. retail only when fine Eggs are scarce. Ordinarily we can get a sufficient supply from the farmers bringing milk daily to the creameries where we make Delicia Pure Cream Butter, but in times of scarcity we often have to go as far as Oklahoma, Arkansas or Tennessee to find the best Eggs. These are not equal to our creamery Eggs but are the freshest and best to be had and are vastly superior to the old Cold Storage Eggs that flood the market at such times.

Be Sure This Seal is Unbroken When You Get the Eggs

W. S. MOORE & CO.,

Chicago Office--131 South Water Street.

Buying Eggs By Weight.

Whenever an improved method of buying is installed, eggs should be bought of the producer by weight. As far as selling to the consumer is concerned, the present scheme is more feasible; this scheme is to grade according to the size and other qualities, and sell by the dozen, the price per dozen varying according to the grade.

Buying by weight simplifies the problem of grading. It will, in addition, only be necessary to have a fine of so much for eggs that are wrong in quality. For rotten or heated eggs should be deducted an amount considerably in excess of their value, for their presence is a source of danger to the reputation of the brand. Shrunken eggs are hard to classify. In order that this may be done fairly and uniformly the specific gravity or brine test should be used. All eggs that float in a given salt brine of, say, 1.05 specific gravity should be fined. Two or more grades can be made in this fashion if desired.

The Retailing of Eggs by the Producer.

In poultry papers the poultryman has been commonly advised to get near a large city and retail his own eggs at a fancy price. This sounds all right on paper but in practice it works out differently. A man cannot be in two places or do two things at the same time. The poultryman's time is valuable on his plant, and the question is whether he can handle city sales as well as a man who made it his business. If the poultryman tries to retail his own goods he will be working on too small a scale to advertise his goods or to make deliveries economically. The man making a specialty of the city end can sell ten to a hundred times as much produce as one poultryman can produce.

With a group of poultry farmers working co-operatively, or a large corporation having contracts with producers, the producing and selling end can be brought under the same management advantageously. The isolated poultryman, unless he find a market at his very door, will do better to permit at least one middleman to slip in between himself and the consumer. But there is no reason why he should not know this middleman personally and insist upon a method of buying that will pay him upon the merits of his goods.

Consigning eggs or any other produce to commission men, without a definite understanding, will always be, as it always has been, a source of dissatisfaction and loss. There is a great opportunity here for the man who can organize a system that shall do away with commission houses, other intermediate steps, and form the single step from producer to consumer. Some people say that farmers cannot be dealt with in this manner. Such people would probably have said as much about general merchandising before the days of the mail order houses.

It is all a matter of efficient organization. A system of business fitted to deal in carload lots will, of course, fail when dealing with half cases. It is more difficult to deal in little things than in big ones because the margin is closer, but it can and will be done.

The Price of Eggs.

We will consider the price of all eggs from the quotation of Western firsts in the New York market. The reason for this is evident. Every egg raised east of Colorado is in line for shipment to New York. If other towns get eggs they must pay sufficiently to keep them from going to New York.

In pricing eggs we have first to consider the price of Western firsts in New York and secondly the quality relation of the particular grade to Western firsts and the consequent relation in price.

The price of eggs varies with the price of other commodities as the periods of prosperity and adversity follow one another through the years.

As is well known, all prices in the '90's passed through a period of depression. For eggs this reached a base in 1897. Since then there has been a gradual climb till this realized a high point in 1904, remained high till 1907. In the spring of 1908 egg prices dropped again, but the fall prices of 1908 were exceptionally high. As this work goes to press (May, 1909) eggs are going into storage at the highest May price on record.

The prices of eggs also vary independently of other commodities because of a gradual changing relation between production and consumption. As stated in the first chapter the prices of poultry products have shown a general rise when compared with other articles. This has been most marked since 1900. As for the future we cannot prophesy save to say that there is nothing in sight to lead us to believe that we will not go still higher in egg prices.

A third variation in the price of eggs is the one caused by the seasonal relation of production and consumption. This change is from year to year fairly constant. Its normal may be seen in the scientifically smoothed curve in plate IV. This curve is based upon the New York prices for the last eighteen years.

In addition to these broader influences there are disturbing tendencies that cause the market to fluctuate back and forth across the line where the more general influences would place it.

Of those general factors, weather is the most important. Storms, rain and cold in the egg producing region decrease the lay, lower supplies and raise the price. This is due both to the fact that laying is cut down and that the country roads become impassable and the farmers do not bring the eggs to town. As long as there are storage eggs in the warehouses weather conditions are not so effective, but when these are gone, which is usually about the first of the year, the egg market becomes highly sensitive to all weather changes. Suppose late in February storms and snows force up the price of eggs. This is followed by a warm spell which starts the March lay. The roads, meanwhile, are in a quagmire from melting snows. When they do dry up eggs come to town by the wagon loads. A drop of ten cents or more may occur on such occasions within a day or two's time. This is known as the spring drop and for one to get caught with eggs on hand means heavy losses.

When once eggs have suffered this drop to the spring level or the storage price for the season, the prices for April, May and June will remain fairly steady. About the last week in June the summer climb begins. This goes on very steadily with local variation of about the same as those of the spring months. The storage eggs begin to come out in August and at first sell about the same as fresh. As the season advances the fresh product continues to rise in price. The storage egg price will remain fairly uniform. By November the season of high prices is reached. If storage eggs are still plentiful and the weather is mild sudden variations in price may occur. These are caused by a fear that the storage eggs will not all be consumed before spring. If an oversupply of eggs have been stored a warm spell in winter will make a heavy drop in the market, but if storage eggs are scarce the sudden variations will be up-shots due to cold waves. From November until spring egg prices are a creature of the weather maps and sudden jumps from 5 to 10 cents may occur at any time.

The price curve of 1908, which is represented by the dotted line in plate IV will illustrate these general principles. In the lower portion of plate IV is given the curves for the New York receipts. The heavy line represents the smoothed or normal curve, deduced from eighteen years' statistics and calculated for the year 1908. The dotted line shows the actual receipts of 1908. A comparison week by week of the receipts and price will show the detailed workings of the law of supply and demand.

Aside from the weather there are other factors that perceptibly affect the receipts and price of eggs. A high price of meat will increase farm and village consumption of eggs and cut down the receipts that reach the city. Abundance of fruit in the city market will cut down the demand for eggs. A cold, wet spring will increase the mortality of chicks and cause a decreased egg yield the following season, due to a scarcity of pullets. Scarcity and high price of feed will cut down the egg yield. High price of hens is said by some to cut down the egg yield, but I think this is doubtful, as the impulse to sell off the hens is counteracted by the desire to "keep 'em and raise more."

The following are the quotations taken from the New York Price-Current for November 14, 1908:

State, Pennsylvania and nearby fresh eggs continue in very small supply and of more or less irregular quality, a good many being mixed with held eggs--sometimes with pickled stock. The few new laid lots received direct from henneries command extreme prices--sometimes working out in a small way above any figures that could fairly be quoted as a wholesale value. We quote: Selected white, fancy, 48@50c.; do., fair to choice, 35@46c.; do., lower grades, 26@32c.; brown and mixed, fancy, 38@40c.; do., fair to choice, 30@36c; do., lower grades, 25@28c.

N.Y. Mercantile Exchange Official Quotations.

Fresh gathered, extras, per dozen @37 Fresh gathered, firsts 32 @33 Fresh gathered, seconds 29 @31 Fresh gathered, thirds 25 @28 Dirties, No. 1 21 @22 Dirties, No. 2 18 @20 Dirties, inferior 12 @17 Checks, fresh gathered, fair to prime 18 @20 Checks, inferior 12 @16 Refrigerator, firsts, charges paid for season 24 @24-1/2 Refrigerator, firsts, on dock 23 @23-1/2 Refrigerator, seconds, charges paid for season 22-1/2 @23-1/2 Refrigerator, seconds, on dock 21-1/2 @22-1/2 Refrigerator, thirds 20 @21 Limed, firsts 22-1/2 @23 Limed, seconds 21 @22

The writer was in the New York market at the time and saw many cases of White Leghorn eggs sell wholesale at as high as 55 cents. These were commonly retailed at 5 cents each. There were a good many brands retailing at 65 cents and one of the largest high class groceries was selling for 70 cents. This is practically double the official quotations and three times that of cold storage stock.

The above prices represent a fair sample of the fall prices of 1908. It should be noted that the 1908 fall prices were relatively somewhat better than the rest of the season.

The time of high prices is also the time of the greatest variation in the price of the different grades. In the springtime all eggs are fairly fresh and good, and the fanciest eggs bring wholesale only two or three cents above quotations. There are a few retailers who hold the spring prices to their customers up above the general market. One New York firm that does a large high class egg business never lets their price at any season go below 40 cents. This, of course, means big profits and sales only to those who, when they are satisfied, never bother about price.

In the fall any man who has fresh eggs can sell them at very near the highest price, but in the spring only a small per cent. can go at fancy prices and the great majority of even the high grade eggs must go at very ordinary prices. In the summer months there is not so much demand in the cities, as the wealthy are not there to buy. The coast and mountain resorts are then good markets for fancy produce.