The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-02-12
EGG BUSINESS ODDITIES
THE SORTING AND CLASSIFYING A
COMPLICATED PERFORMANCE,

lions of Farmers.
y cackle Of relief and conscious viz
tue Is going up from conscientious
hens, all over the country. Their busy
season il practically ended and they
have beaten all previous records.
The American hen isn't properly ap-
| preciated by her average fellow coun-
tryman. He insists upon regarding
her as an individual, and doesn't real
| iZe what power of organized labor
| she represents. Al rough estimate,
there are about $4,000 900 chickens In
the United States. They produce each
! year something like 1900 900. 900
eggs, which represent $1T5, 900. 600. Be-
sides, $130,000,OOO worth of poultry is
| eaten In the country during year. and
the value of the living hens, ut thir-
| ~ cents apiece, is figured at $4,000.
| 900 SO the hen stands for about S455..
| 100000 In the yearly economies of tho
United States, and it keeps her hust-
ling to live up to her reputation. 1t
| is enough TO daunt even Black Min.
orca to reflect when the spring DAYS
come that she and her fellows must
| start in and Guido the iron industry,
the coal industry, the wheat crops and
the corn crop, incidentally soaring
more than S1.0O0,0OO ahead of tho
total value of the cows of the country
and their produce.
However, she sees her duty and she
does it. The bulk of her work, so far
| as the eggs are concerned, Is done IN
the spring and early summer though
the hens keep up fairly good pace
until November, and are not actually
| daunted until the severe cold weather
and storms arrive. The supply and the
| price of eggs depend entirely upon that
unknown quantity. the weather. Such
an episode as the egg famine OF earli-
! er times is never known in this day
OF cold storage and refrlgerating IA.
cilities. but Il long winter means n de-
cided scarcity of fresh eggs and %
jump in the prices Of stored eggs.
The egg business has been revolu.
tionized in very recent years and it's
developments has been marvellous. 4
comparatively short time ago, the mar
ket depended upon local farmers and
upon Michigan. Illinois, Indiana and
Iowa for It's egg supply. and the great
southwest had no finger in the pie; but
the improvements in railroad facilities
and refrigeration have changed all
that, and now Kansas N'iA-Ska aud
Missouri are sending our enormous
quantities Of eggs. The South. too.
has taken up the indust ~ Iowa is
| still, perhaps the hcaV KSroducrr.
but Michigan eggs are said nv experts
TO have the finest flavor. the q ference
being, doubtless the effect o. the sand
and lime I'm the soil.
Poultry farmers to-day are showing
q tendency to cOnhnc themselves to
some one breed OF hens. hut the merit
OF this measure lies not in superior
flavor but in the uniform size and color
of the eggs. Those questions of size
and color cut an important figure in
the egg trade. and though the dealers
say scornfully that their concessions to
public idiosyncrasies are all foolish
ness, they make the concessions lust
the same The ordinary buyer abso.
lutcly refuses TO put aside a prejudice
in favor of eggs uniform In size and
eggs, however fresh they may be. ut
Il fancy price. so the wholesale dealers
sort out the eggs tack an extra price
TO those that are uniform and every
body Is happy. There arc local preju.
dices i'm this regard as well as unlyer-
sal ones. Every dealer the country
over knows that fancy sorted eggs.
TO find favor I'm Boston. must be or n
warm brown color and he knows well
that New Workers will not pay fancy
price for brown eggs. but demand as.
sorted whites
This sorting and classifying Of eggs is
n complicated performance. Sometimes
it is done before shipping. More often
10 is done in the wholesale houses or
storage warehouses First the eggt
are candled and sorted according to
their degree Of freshness. I'm the Old
days this was done bJ passing the eggs
before q candle fame In "a dark room.
but Gambling is now n misnomcr. for
the eggs are held before powcrfrI
electric light hooded i'm tin. so that
the light escapes only through one
small aperture An expert Gambler
needs long training. and the work is
tedious and trying though old cand.
lcrs who have been ut the trade for
many years poohpooh the idea That
tlc work Us disastrous 90 the eyes Tho
Gambling room is q picturesque place
with iis inky gloom. its high lights on
ihc faces of the workers and the glow
ING little Oy0ls of warm color thlt arp
swiftly passed before the ray of light
and laid aside The incidental smells
arc more than picturesque. but 20 disln.
fccnnt thrown iu the air. quickly KILLS
The cd0r of Che bad eggs and the Wort,
ers says that they are so used to The
odor thHt they really do not mind &c.
The gamblers iu one OF New Yorts
larges wholesale egg houses gcl Sli
q week the year round. but their woIl;
is comparatively light during Oh,
spring and early summer months
when nearly all eggs are fresh ~ is
during The hot weather that their trou.
bles begin That season eggs must bc
handled quickly and large pcrccu
age OF them are not strictly fresh Tl,
GAMBLER must be able to grade ,hr
varying degrees OF stalcnces ruprrin
~, separating blood eggs spotted eggs
heated eggs and thoroughly had eggs
into classes After they leave the caud.
ling room. they are again sorted. This
time with reference to- color aud siyt
The strictly fresh eggs. all of one s.ze
and color. are packed for fancy frndc.