The sun., 1919-10-05
Eggs by the Pound
As a Market Reform

ties. meats, vegetables. fruits and eggs
and means to make the weekly table
allowance go bit further as the pur-
chasing power shrinks.
"And to think" remarked Mrs
Shopper, somewhat Indignantly, "the
grocer charged me so cents a dozen
for eggs, strictly fresh, direct from the
farm, If am to take him at his word"
Thereupon Mrs. Byweight, who
shouldered the neighborhood burden OF
fighting the proflteer and acting as
chief complaining witness against the
marketmen of the district, insisted on
an inspection of the eggs, at the same
time sensing an opportunity to drive
home one of her pet arguments for
reform in egg buying. She scanned the
dozen eggs carefully. arranged them
by size, some small and some large, but
in proper display to show the varia-
ton in sizes. Then she took up the
conversation:
How Eggs Vary.
'"The butcher sells his meats by the
pound, the groceryman his coffee, his
sugar his butter, his lard, in fact al
most everything. by the pound. Now
why not sell eggs by the pound? l
have been keeping a careful tabulation
of the weight of eggs in my purchases
for the last six months and find that
dozen vary in weight from fourth
to half pound. When We get dozen
of the smaller sizes we lose, but when
we get a dozen Of the larger size, and
we seldom do, perhaps we get what we
are paying for"
What Mrs Byweight told Mrs. Shop
per was true; eggs do vary In weight
The normal weight Of dozen eggs is
approximately one and half pounds
but baby" eggs have been found
which will not balance the scales at
more than half a pound to the dozen
The two women came to the immedi-
ate conclusion that eggs ought TO be
sold by the pound, the same as chops
steaks, roasts, butter, sugar, coffee, SC
MY sister in The Bronx tells me
that her produce man has increased
the price of large eggs five cents
Dozen" added Mrs. Byweight. as con-
cluding argument that an immediate
change In the selling system is neces-
sary to insure fair dealing.
And the ordinary housewife, trying
to make the table allowance for the
week go as far as possible. we'll may
ask why not sell eggs by the pound?'
The producer of the eggs-not the
hen, the poultryman-would benefit by
the change, for the size apd weight OF
eggs depends upon the breed OF
chicken, and also the age of the bird,
The sturdy yellow cochin. the pride OF
the barnyard, the wyandotte and
few other breeds, yield large. heavy
eggs. These chickens, OF large size
are voracious eaters and must have
plenty of food. In turn their appetites
are reflected in their product. Hence
the poultryman raising the large egg
laying hens would demand more for
his eggs than the man keeping the
smaller egg laying hens.
Then there Is the leghorn, the white
and the brown, trim hens, light eaters
but prolific layers. Their eggs will run
only ten or twelve to the pound at the
adult chicken age because they are
much smaller in size.
Custom Obtains at Wholesale.
Eggs have been sold by weight at
wholesale, but the retailer has not
adapted himself or his trade to this
system, although the housewife, with
chance Of obtaining by weight eX-
actly what she is paying for, would
welcome the change. Some years ago
there was a demand for eggs by
weight. but the dealers stopped tho
clamor and the old "by the dozen
system still rules, whether eggs ara
40 cents a dozen or twice that figure.
At the same time the cry was raised
that eggs should be graded uniform
ly and the standard was set at ATTY
five to fifty-seven pounds TO the casa
Of thirty dozen eggs. OF course, this
applied only to the wholesaler and
the Jobber in eggs. Tho hotel stew
ard, noted as a shrewd and careful
buyer of all commodities, insists on
standard size for eggs. For the
hotels an egg must not pass through
ring an inch and a half in size or
back It goes. Few go back because
the salesman knows what the hotel
steward expects.
Perhaps the housewives, when they
become unionized. Will go on strike
In egg buying. refuse TO purchase eN-
cept by the pound. or produce the inch
and half ring and resort to the size
test.
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