REPORT OF THE POULTRY MANAGER 285 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



great loss to the farmers every year, by their careless methods of marketing eggs, Mr. 

 J. A. Gunn, of the extensive egg and poultry buying firm of Gunn, Langlois & Co., 

 Montreal, said in a recent address to the Poultry Producers' Association of Canada : — 

 ' The loss from marketing bad eggs alone in Canada last year is estimated at $1,850,- 

 000. If eggs had been brought to market in a proper manner the great loss mentioned 

 would not have occurred.' In an article on the ' Poultry Industry ' in the Montreal 

 Weekly Witness of March 21st last, Mr. E Rhoades of the Macdonald College, Que., 

 remarks : — ' The bad egg question must be considered — Let me give reports of two 

 Quebec and Ontario merchants to prove that the loss estimated from bad eggs is not 

 exaggerated. The Quebec merchant states that, during the period from May 15 to 

 October 1, he handles from thirty-five to forty thousand cases of eggs (thirty dozen 

 per case), and that two-thirds of these cases contain no new-laid eggs. The Ontario 

 merchant handles about 20,000 cases of eggs in the same period, and says that with 

 strict candling there would be none classed as new-laid, forty per cent of the whole 

 would be stale or shrunken, and ten per cent bad. These merchants further state that 

 if the bad eggs were eliminated, they could pay from two to eight cents a dozen more 

 for eggs. 



BAD PRACTICES. 



A WARNING CIRCULAR FROM WHOLESALE BUYERS. 



The following circular from a wholesale house, who are large purchasers of eggs, 

 to their buyers, conveys its own moral. It it to be regretted that such vicious prac- 

 tices, as complained of in the first paragraph, are so common. 



Montreal, May 15, 1911. 



Dear Sir, — Already we are commencing to receive bad eggs, which have every 

 appearance of being taken from incubators. We want you to give the question of 

 watching this class of eggs and also bad eggs, close attention from now out. 



We understand that already there is a movement on foot among dealers to buy 

 eggs, loss off, just as soon as the warm weather commences, so you want to prepare 

 the farmers and storekeepers for this. 



There is another thing to which we want to draw your attention, and this is 

 that eggs are arriving without any packing on the top. This is a great mistake, as it 

 means that we lose lots of money through cracked and broken eggs, which would be 

 eliminated if a little care were used. Kindly give this matter your attention and if 

 you have been guilty, have the difficulty corrected in future shipments. 



Yours faithfully, 



GUNN, LANGLOIS & CO., LTD. 



