The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1914-01-30

- picked egg. New laid eggs have
what might be called rough finished
gloss upon them, which cannot be
duplicated or initiated in any way
The egg which has once been soiled ia
unmarketable. Any effort to remove
the dirt removes also the gloss and
produces an appearance that is incon-
sistent with the general idea Of fresh
ness
Not only must the egg be of a good
appearance. but it must be good
throughout. The testing is by the
now well known system Of Gambling
in dark room. 1t is held up against
powerful light to reveal whether IT.
is a fresh egg or one in which there
has begun the process Of deteriora-
ton. The cooperative associations,
handling as they do so large a num-
Der, generally test their eggs in large
trays, the trays often holding 100 eggs
at time. Dirty eggs, bad eggs, ques-
tionable eggs no longer appear. Be
cause Of care on the farmers part
they are no longer produced. Since
the society buys by weight, which is
after all far more just measure than
the count. the average egg is gradual
ly growing bigger. If small eggs are
produced they do not reach the mar
ket.
Cooperation Helps the Consumer.
1t is of course conceded that If
there is a big supply of good food,
food will be cheaper than when it is
scarce and more people will be able to
get it. If cooperation not only sends
better eggs to the city, but sends them
in double or triple the quantity then
eggs will in the end be plentiful and
cheaper. As result the consumer
will profit. This is particularly true II
the eggs are. under cooperation. pro
duced at less cost and with less waste.
1t will be readily understood that if
the farmer finds that egg producing
is a profitable enterprise the quantity
of eggs produced will vastly increase.
Comprehensive figures for Ireland are
difficult to obtain, but this has proved
true in Denmark. In 1895, according
to official figures, there was exported
from Denmark something less than
100000 worth Of eggs. Fourteen
years later, when cooperative market
ing had demonstrated the profit that
was in the business, there was ex-
ported in one year nearly $7.00O.000
worth of eggs. Wolf states that while
in 1893 the number of hens kept in
Denmark was about 100000, in 1911
the figure had reached the 12,00O.000
mark. 1t is significant that while the
number of hens had only little more
than doubled, the value of the yield
had become nearly four-fold. This
was largely the result of the fact that
the improved conditions under which
poultry was kept had greatly improved
the laying ability of each hen. The.
same sort of thing is occurring every:
where in Continental Europe. In Ger.
many, in France, in Belgium, in Italy,
cooperative societies have undertaken
the marketing of eggs with great
profit to the farmer and with consid.
cradle satisfaction to the consumer.
Democratic Management.
All the Offices Of the concern are
in the hands of officers elected by the
members. It is most democratic OF.
ganization. Every man has one vote,
no man has more. The member who
markets eggs produced by a dozen
hens has as many votes as he who
owns thousand layers. In Dunglow.
and elsewhere as well, they consider
this zone man one vote" plan essen
tial. THE man should VOTE" they
say, mot his money!
They pay a good price in cash for
the eggs. And when the annual set
Element comes there is always a .divl-
dend to investors. But those who
have invested their money, much OF
little, get only five per cent. No so
ciety under the supervision of the
Irish Agricultural Organization society
is permitted to pay dividends upon
shares in excess Of that percentage.
What is left is distributed to the mem
bers in proportion to the amount of
eggs they have marketed through the
cooperative society. It goes as an
additional price paid for eggs.
These two principles are considered
fundamental and essential: first, one
man one vote; second, all profits in
excess Of a small dividend to investors
must go to those who contributed to
the profits by furnishing the product
Why Not in American
Why hasn't this sort of thing been
done in America? 1t isn't because
the American farmer and his wife do
not need the money, They do. 1t
isn't because there is no demand for
good eggs. Eggs were never so much |
in demand and buyers are more par |
ticular than ever about quality. The
strictly fresh eggs find buyers every
where. The fact is there is no good
reason why American farmers should
not do business as intelligently as
Irishmen. Some of them do. but not
many 1t takes no capital and can be
done nm n small scale