Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-18

10 AINNTElJILGO IILIOAALl
receives weekly quotations. from
number of egg buyers and ships what
he has collected at intervals of from
two days to two weeks by local freight.
| The dealer pays by the case, regard
less of quality, repacks them in car
load lots to jobbers, who supply the
groceries and market men. The job
ber classlfies them into number OF
grades which are sold to the various
trades.
In western city this may mean two
grades, good and bad; in New York 1T
may mean seven or eight grades, the
finer eggs being packed in sealed car
tons, or each egg may be stamped with
the dealers brand. The city retailers
include groceries, dalries, butchers
shops, drug stores, hotels, restaurants
and bakeries The great bulk Of eggs
move through the channels of the
small restaurants, the bakery and the
small grocer.
Some of the larger grocers are in
the market for strictly fresh eggs, and
for the purpose of securing them en-
ploy experts, who can detect the quail
! ity by holding them before an electric
| light or a candle. Traders of this
class frequently attempt to get their
supplies direct from individual farm
ers, but the profit in that method is
smaller, and the farmer is often tempt
ed to buy eggs from his neighbors
(which are likely to be uncertain.
In the regions of heavy production
the largest number of eggs are traded
for merchandise at country stores and
pass through the commission houses
in the cities to retail dealers. Regular
poultry farms, which are numerous in
! the east, but are almost unknown in
the west, ship their product direct to
! fancy grocery dealers, hotels or clubs
under contract. Many big hotels have
their own supply farms or make per-
manent arrangements with poultry
farms for a regular supply of eggs,
broilers and roasting chickens, ducks
and geese, which are received daily.
They pay fancy prices and get the
four or forty-eight hours after they
are laid.
Delay In Reaching Consumer
The ordinary farm eggs of the west,
however are usually two or three
weeks reaching the consumer, and
| lose value every day. The cold stor-
| age industry, which is a modern de-
velopment, Mr.. Hastings says, has
been OF great benefit to both the pro-
ducer and the consumer. 1t has tend
ed toward the leveling of the price of
eggs throughout the year, and has
resulted in a large increase in the fail
and winter consumption. Speaking
generally, the cold storage egg, while
not unwholesome, is inferior in flavor
and strength to the fresh egg. Cold
storage eggs can be detected by ex-
perts because of the uniform shrink
age, but the growth of bacteria is
practically prevented by the low tenn
perature.
The local produce buyers usually
furnish the stock for the cold storage
companies when the demand is slack
and prices are low, particularly in the
summer months. They can sell to the
cold storage men for cash on delivery
without any risk, and therefore pre-
fer to deal with them than to ship to a
falling market
Mr.. Hastings thinks the greatest
drawback in the egg trade is the ex-
change of eggs at the general store
for merchandise, regardless of quality.
The country merchant has neither
time nor facilities nor knowledge that
will enable him to detect inferior eggs,
and, as the profit on the farmers pur-
chase is worth more than the loss Of
cept all the eggs that are brought,
without asking questions, and ship
them to market without inspection. A
| remedy for this, the weakest spot in
the egg industry, Mr.. Hastings sug-
gests, is the establishment of cash
markets at the larger towns, like the
markets for cream and butter fat,
where the farmers will be independent
of the country merchants, where they
will oome in contact with men who
will educate them in the production of
| high grade eggs, and offer inducement
| to improve his product and bring 1t
promptly to market. because the fresh
est eggs will command the highest
prices. In remote and less productive
regions the problem is not SO easy of
solution, but arrangements could be
made with the railway so that the
farmer could ship his eggs regularly
to some central point and be paid upon
q quality basis, as is done with straw
berries and other fruits.
Production and Marketing
Mr. Hastings gives several sugges-
tions for the production of good eggs
and for marketing them in good con-
dition, as follows:
l. Hens that produce not only a
goodly number of eggs, but eggs OF
moderately large size, weighing two
ounces each on an average. Plymouth
rocks, wyandottes, Rhode Island reds,
orpingtons, leghorns or minorcas may
be expected to do this.
2. Good housing, regular feeding and
watering, and, above all, clean, dry
nests.
3. Daily gathering of eggs, and, when
the temperature is above so degrees,
gathering twice day.
4. The confining of all broody hens as
soon as discovered.
5. The rejection as doubtful of all
eggs found in a nest that was not vis-
tied the previous day. Such eggs
should be used at home, where each
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