St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-07-06

taller or to large consumers, such AS
hotels, clubs and cafes. Selling of
poultry produce directly to the small
consumer is not very profitable
thing, and l should not advise one to
attempt it unless it is done in con-
nection with the milk route or other
regularly distributing business. OF
course this remark would not apply
to those who have a village flock OF
fowls where the children take dozen
eggs around the corner to friends and
neighbors.
To the farmer in the great agricul-
tural districts far removed from any
city these outlets for poultry and
eggs are not available 1t is entirely
feasible for the farmer who has
large enough flock to insure a case or
more a week. to ship eggs by express
to cities some two or three hunderd
miles distant but with the exception
of the larger consuming centerS of
the east the premiums paid will hard
ly make this profitable. When none
of the previous mentioned opportun1-
ties is available it remains for the
farmers of community to content
themselves either with the price that
the local produce dealer gives or to
form cooperative marketing aSSO-
citation and market their own produce.
Where the local produce buyer is at
all fair and reasonable | should not
advise farmers to- hasten into coop
erative deals, for some one must be
in charge and a man who owns the
business will give ii more careful at
tention than one who is merely work
ing on a salary. But in either case
it is highly desirable that the farmers
get together and come to some under
standing with the egg buyer regard
ing purchasing of eggs on some other
method t4lan by case count.
The term case count means to buy
at a uniform price all eggs as they are
offered regardless of size and quality.
Eggs in Denmark are all purchased by
weight The time will undoubtedly
come when the same method will be
pursued in this country. The most i'm
mediate need of reform. however, is
to insist upon the buying of eggs upon
a candled basis. especially in the sum-
mer and fall This means that the
buyer must keep each lot of eggs sep
arately and examine them with the
candle or light and throw out the rot
ten and stale eggs. This, of course, is
some trouble and expense, but there
is no other way known by which the
grade of eggs can be kept up and
good price obtained.
If eggs are bought case count dis
honest producers will send bad eggs
to market. which, mixed in with good
ones. will lower the price to all, and
the farmers who produced a fair quail
ity of eggs will be cheated out of their
honest profits. The egg dealer is only
too anxious to have eggs bought upon
quality basis. and it is the ignorance
of the farmers to their own interest
that prevents such methods of buying
from becoming universal.
Enterprising communities can make
great step in advance of the market
ing of their produce if they will adopt
q trade name for all products put out
by their locality and take pride in
seeing that nothing goes out under this
name that is not of the best quality.
Such a movement usually involves
farmers cooperation. a propaganda
which is rapidly growing in popular
ity throughout the country.
Essential Points of Egg Quality.
Sometimes poultrymen secure fancy
outlet for their eggs, but do not appre-
ciate the actual points of quality suf-
fciently to hold their market. / have
known poultrymen TO ship eggs which
were produced on a poultry farm and
were but a few days old and on that
account seem to think they had suffi-
cient basis upon which to ask goodly
premium above market prices, when. as
a matter of fact, their eggs were ac-
tually inferior to the better grade Of
farm receipts from the more northerly
and densely settled communities.