The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1901-03-02
From the sew York su... February j

lS gong up iiou cOhSS-Cnti" iicuo az ~
the country. Their busy season is practi
cally ended and they have beaten all pre-
vious records.
The american hen ism properly appre
ciated by her average fellow countryman.
He insists upon regarding her as an indi-
vidual, and doesn' realize what power
of organized labor she represents At a
rough estimate, there are about $50, 900,
600 chickens in the United States. They
produce each year something like IA, 900,
900. 900 eggs, which represent S175, 600,
900. Besides, S130, 600, 900 worth of
poultry is eaten in the country during
wear. and the value of the living hens, at
80 cents apiece, is figured at $3.50, 000,-
600. So the hen stands for about $3.50,
600, 900 in the yearly economics Of the
United States, and it keeps her hustliug to
live up to her reputation. II is enough to
daunt even Black Minorca to reflect when
the spring days come that she and her fell
lows must start in and Guido the iron in
dustry, the coal industry, and the wheat
crop and the corn crop, incidentally soaring
more than 81, 900, 900 ahead Of the total
yearly value of the cows of the country
and their produce.
However, she sees her duty and she does
it. The bulk of the work, 50 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 sup
ply and the price of eggs depend entirely
upon that unknown quantity, the weather.
Such an episode as the egg famine OF
earlier times il never known in this day OF
cold storage and refrigerating facilities, but
long winter means decided scarcity Of
fresh eggs and jump in the prices OF
stored eggs.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINESS.
The egg business has been revolutionized
in very recent years and its development
has been marvellous A comparatively
short time ago the market depended upon
local farmers and upon Michigan, Illinois,
Indiana and Iowa for its egg supply, and
the great Southwest had no finger In the
pie, but the Improvements IN railroad faclll-
ties and refrigeration have changed all that,
and now Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri
are sending out enormous quantities of eggs.
The South, too, has taken up the industry,
although the tendency in that region is to
90 into the business in a small way rather
than with the breezy l-embracing sweep
of the Western farmer Iowa is still, per-
haps, the heaviest producer, bnt Michigan
eggs are said by experts to have the finest
flavor, the difference being, doubtless, the
effect of the sand and lime in the soil.
Poultry farmers today are showing a
tendency to confne themselves to some
one breed of hens, but 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
foolishness, they make the concessions just
the same The ordinary buyer absolutely
refuses to put aside prejudice in favor OF
eggs uniform in size and color. The gro
Ger cannot sell mixed eggs, however fresh
they may be, at fancy price, so the
wholesale dealers sort out the eggs, tack
an extra price to those that are uniform
and everybody is happy. There are local
prejudices in this regard as well as univer
sal ones. Every dealer the country over
knows that fancy sorted eggs, to find favor
in Boston, must be of a warm brown color,
and he knows equally well that New York
ers will not pay fancy price for brown
eggs, but demand assorted whites.
CLASSIFYING EGGS.
This sorting and classifying of eggs is a
complicated performance Sometimes it
is done before shipping. More often it is
done in the wholesale houses or storage
warehouses. First the eggs are candled
and sorted according to their degree of
freshness In the old days this was done
by passing the eggs before candle fame
in a dark room; but Gambling is now mis-
homer, for the eggs are held before pow
erful electric light hooded in 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 Gamblers who have been at the
trade for many years pooh-pooh the idea
that the work is disastrous to the eyes.
The Gambling room is picturesque place,
with its inky gloom, its high lights on the
faces of the workers and the glowing little
ovals of warm color that are swiftly passed |
before the ray of light and laid aside The
incidental smells are more than picturesque,
but disinfectant thrown into the air quick
ly kills the odor of the bad eggs, and the
workers say that they are so used to the
odor that they really do not mind it.
The gamblers in one of New York larg-
est wholesale egg houses get S14 a week
the year round, but their work is compar-
atively light during the spring and early
summer months, when almost all eggs are
fresh. 1t is during the hot weather that
their troubles begin. That season eggs
must be handled quickly, and large per-
centage of them are not strickly fresh.
The Gambler must be able to grade the vary
ing degrees of staleness unerringly. separat-
ing blood eggs, spotted eggs, heated eggs
and thoroughly bad eggs into classes After
tney leave the cauullng Toom CHey are
again sorted, this time with reference to
color and size The strictly fresh eggs,
all of one size and color, are packed for
fancy trade; mixed fresh eggs go together;
eggs of varying degrees of staleness are di-
vided into classes. The cracked eggs aud
dirty eggs are put aside.
Not an egg of any sort is wasted. The
hopelessly bad eggs, not bought up for
campaigning purposes, are sold for use in
tanning processes. The dirties and the
cracked eggs go to the bakers, as do many
of the stale eggs. Dirty and stale eggs are
also sold to the small dealers in the poor
quarters of the city, where the trade can
not afford high prices. The best retail
dealers of the city buy only the best select
ed or mixed eggs. One New York grocery
firm has bought s18, 900 worth of first
grade eggs this month and doesn' consid
er it big month either.
NO FRESH EGGS NOW
The country is practically cleared up of
fresh eggs now, and the supply will be
e,,oll f-ora tb;s ti,oa until Mar,h or A pril