Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-05-15

sion men because they demand a per- |
centage which cuts down the profit of
the farmer who produces the eggs
and raises the price to the city man |
who eats them. At the moment of |
shipping he knows Just where there |
is demand for eggs and consequently |
is sure that the eggs will be promptly |
accepted and promptly resold. So eff |
cient is this process that within six
days after the egg is laid by the hen
1t may be on the table of the consumer
in distant England. During every
minute of that six days the egg has
been so well cared for that it has had
no chance to deteriorate in quality in
the slightest degree. Not only does
the farmer receive a good price for
this egg but, because the process of
distribution Is so efficient and ina1-
pensive, the final retail price is rea
sonable and the consumer profits as
much as the producer. The stamp of
a Danish cooperative association on
an egg is guarantee Of quality. 1t
establishes the character of the egg.
1t is its passport which admits it as
select egg into the presence Of the
most discriminating consumers.
Cooperative Egg Export.
Some of the smaller Danish socie-
ties had in the beginning little diff
Guilty in standardizing their product
and in establishing stable prices, To
assist in accomplishing these two OBJ
jects the Danish Cooperative Egg Ex
port society was organized in 1895.
The purpose Of this organization is to
standardize the output and bring about
greater stability in prices. The cen
trail society is made up of large num-
tse- of local associations each of which
contains at least ten members.
Each producer must stamp the eggs
with his own number and that of the
group to which he belongs so that it is
possible to ascertain exactly who sup
piled each egg. The farmer who sends
in bad egg is fined. The eggs are
then sent to packing centers, whence
they are shipped according to fixed
price determined a week in advance
by the managing committee.
Although not twenty years old the
Danish Egg Export society consists of
$50 groups and did a business, in 1908.
of more than s6,6O0,OO0. Danish eggs
bring fancy prices because they are
always fresh, well sorted, well packed,
and guaranteed.
Dutch Eggs.
The organization of egg societies
has also been taken up by. the Dutch
farmers. the system adopted being
practically the same as that which
prevails in Denmark.
Local societies are formed and afil-
lated to Central Provincial fedora
ton, which is responsible for grading,
testing, packing, and shipping. The
eggs are collected by the local socie-
ties and forwarded regularly to the
Central Depot. Every member of a
local society is furnished with num-
ber, which must be stamped on the
eggs before delivery. The eggs are
carefully tested, and member supply
| ing stale eggs is subject to penalty
I of one dollar for every egg rejected
The Association of Cooperative
Creameries in Limburg was the first
to take UP the cooperative export of
eggs. The province of Friesland fol-
| lowed. There is poultry association
which works over the whole of Hol-
land, and has eleven provincial
branches, but this association does not
trade, having been established to pro-
] tect the interests and develop the in
dustry of poultry farming generally.
The Friesland Export Federation was
established in 1903, and the total value
of the shipments in 1909 was about
| 100000.
How Irish Eggs Are Sold.
| A recent activity of the Irish Agri-
cultural Organization society has been
the establishment of poultry products
| associations, patterned entirely after
the Danish system already described.
This is, of course, about the simplest
and easiest form of cooperative en-
terprise to establish, as the outlay of
| invested capital is small, the returns
| prompt and continuous and the prod
uct, at least the eggs, readily stand
ardized. The eggs, in fact, are not only
stamped. sorted and packed as by the
Danes, but the producers are paid for
| them almost entirely by weight instead
of by number. These cooperative egg
companies have succeeded beyond ex-
| pectation and the value of the egg ex-
ports handled comparatively is about
equal to the dairy exports, although
the poultry produce is of much less
value than dairy produce.
In Germany the eggs are marketed
much as they are in Denmark. In the
one province of Hanover there are for
example one hundred forty-two coop
erative poultry societies. Some of
these combine the breeding of poultry
or the other forms of cooperation with
the selling of eggs. Ninety-eight egg
societies, however, are devoted en-
tirely to egg selling and in the year
1910 disposed of 27,500.000 eggs real.
izing therefrom over s4O0, 100000 for
distribution among their cooperative
members.
To belong to the society each farmer
pays an entrance fee of twenty-five
cents; shares in the society cost each
SIPS of which, however only twelve
cents is paid down, the balance being
gradually paid by a distribution of div.
idends upon the trading profits. The
cooperative society at Hanover owns
substantial brick egg house from
which 100000 eggs are sold each year
The collector who is paid SOC for every
one thousand eggs collected calls once
a week at the farm house of each
ating than the glare of an unshielded
| arc lamD whiIaf within the field Of