Evening star., 1902-03-08
Some Large Transactions.
THE PRICE OF EGGS.
Washington Ships a Larger Number
Than Usually Known.

/
"It must not be supposed that the great |
American hen is going back on her estab- |
llshed reputation as an egg producer be- |
cause the price of eggs climbed up to 40 |
cents a dozen this winter. and have con-
tinued more than ordinarily high all the |
season." said produce dealer.
''The steady high price which Washington |
housewives have had to pay for the tooth |
some turkey this winter may be easily ac
counted for, as last spring was very wet, |
and, while the young turkeys hatched all
right, the damp weather and trailing
through the wet grass. killed them off by
the thousands, and the crop was reduced to
a third of the usual output.
Now with the great American hen it is
different. Little chicks are built Of harder
stuff than the little turks, and they will
weather a bad spring fairly well. For sew
eral years past the price of eggs, and when
l say the price of eggs, 1 mean the price
we pay the producer for them has been
comparatively low, as has been the price
of poultry. with the result that they have
been killed off by the millions, and have not
been raised to corresponding extent. This
year, however, prices for both eggs and
poultry rule high and the farmers will no
doubt start in again increasing their f1ocks.
1T is in the west where the big cold
storage warehouses for eggs are situated,
and for season or two the owners of these
were caught by the market not going up
| as high expected when they drew out
the eggs In the winter season, the local
supplies in the east being adequate to meet
the demand SO they lost money. This win
ter they got their product out early in the
season, and. when disposed of, it was
found that the local supply did not respond
to the demand, and up went the price Of
eggs. figuratively, skyward.
washington Is larger egg center than
| is commonly thought, and, by the way, the
eggs We get on the river boats from down
the Potomac are the largest and best from
| any nearby or remote section. / cannot ac-
count for It, but it is true The Spring
| Chickens now piping In their little side
walk coops, come from eastern Tennessee
and North Carolina, and it Is from these
| two states. and Virginia. that we get the
bulk OF our eggs and poultry, exclusive of
| the immediate local supplies, as Maryland
| eggs, with the exception of a few sections
| of the state, all go to Baltimore.
ITO give you a line what big egg
market we have in Washington, our house
| alone will ship from now on to New York
| a daily average of fifty cases of thirty
dozen each, or in all $4,000 eggs. and there
| are many other concerns in the city en-
| gagged In the same business. We have ship
ped as high as s.venty-fve cases. or 27OOO
| eggs. day.
| henneries, and the money in them, but
| while 1t may seem far stretched, the egg
| market Of this country is about fiuctuat-
| ing and elusive the stock market For
| instance. the Washington egg market Drop
ped In two days from forty to twenty-four
| cents a dozen, fall of sixteen cents in
| forty-eight hours, which would have wiped
[ out a corner like chalk on a slate. In the
| winter you can never tell when it will Jump
up or flop down. as the weather is change
| able. and you can rely upon the great
| American hen not laying in cold weather,
| while she will when it is warm.
| "Our collectors tell us that 1t Is from the
| common barnyard fowl of the farmer they
| rely upon securing their supply of hen
| fruit, and not from the professional rails
| ers of eggs at the henneries They say that
the old standby barnyard hen Is more re-
| Mable an all the year egg producer than
her more carefully fed and pampered cousin
behind the wire screens. They all assert
that the farmer does not give sufficient at
| tention to his chickens as they are by all
| odds the most profitable side issue ON his
| place. 1t is singular that farmers in this
| vicinity neglect this important ready-money