Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1910-05-13
EXPERTS ADVICE ON EGGS
Agricultural Bulletin Tells Poultry
men How to Increase Their
Profits by Cooperation.

In his report last year Secretary
Wilson asserted that the eggs and
poultry produced upon the farms of
the United States are worth as much
as the wheat and the cotton crops,
and that the income from the hen
houses of the land was one of the
four or five important sources of
wealth of the nation. This surprising
statement is confirmed by circular
No. 14O, which has recently been is
sued by the department of agriculture,
entitled THE Egg Trade o, the
United States" by Milo NJ. Hastings,
scientific assistant animal husbandry
Office.
This bulletin contains about all the
information that could be gathered
concerning eggs, and the author dis
cusses the question Of quality as we'll
as quantity. He tells US how to de-
termine the quality of eggs and how
1t is impaired by carelessness, by
time, and other influences. The
method Of marketing and the route
by which an egg travels from the
producer to the consumer is described.
A chapter is devoted to cold storage
and other methods Of preserving hen
fruit" and the various Gequisites for
the production Of good eggs and the
Improvement Of the crop in the hen
house and In the poultry-yard are
defined and described, with general
observations upon a subject that is Of
personal interest to every breakfast
table.
THE loss Of wealth in this country,
due to the actual spelling Of eggs"
Mr.. Hastings asserts, constitutes an
enormous waste which could in large
measure be saved were eggs given
reasonable care from the time of lay
ing until they reached the consumer"
This is due, he says, to two main rea-
sons: First, lack Of realization of the
Importance of the egg crop, and, Sec
ond, ignorance Of the correct methods
Of caring for them. Under our present
system the individual farmer and the
individual storekeeper have no induce
ments for exercising greater care and
are not held accountable for careless
ness or even actual dishonesty. The
storekeeper who receives eggs in ex-
change for merchandise reckons his
profits on the goods rather than on the
eggs, and knows that he can dispose
Of the eggs at the market price wheth-
sr they are good or bad. Therefore,
he does not encourage the farmers to
improve the quality Of their eggs,
and, BY the advantages of his peculiar
position, keeps other buyers from do
Ing so. Thus, Mr.. Hastings argues,
the present method is on a false
basis, and Is detrimental to the
progress Of one Of the most impor-
tant branches Of agriculture.
The remedy, he thinks, is to be
found in cooperation. The farmers
should organize to control the egg
market and to compel buyers to es-
tablish agencies where eggs can be
sold at prices regulated according to
their quality. At present the best
eggs are in demand at premiums
ranging from one or two cents to
double the ordinary market price. In
the large cites soda fountains, clubs
high-class hotels and many private
families pay as high as rs cents a
dozen for the best quality, but the
farmer who has shipped them de-
rives no advantage and the profit
goes entirely to the retailer. Under
the present system all grades-good
bad and indiferent-bring the same
price at the country stores, and, there
fore, there is practically a premium
upon carelessness.