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rule, there is no trace of the avowed competition, but in its stead, an 

 arrangement to pay a certain fixed price. Here, too, all eggs are bought 

 ■on the " case count " basis. 



Though these are the most important methods by which farmers dis- 

 pose of their eggs, there is still one other that is worthy of notice. A 

 certain proportion of the better and more progressive farmers, in seeking 

 to obtain a higher price for their eggs, pass by one or more middlemen 

 and deal directly with large produce houses, retail stores, or with the final 

 <:onsumer. Such eggs are generally of a higher grade and are acknow- 

 ledged by those accustomed to receiving them, to be of a better class than 

 eggs marketed in any other way. 



Fig. 9. — Spoiling eggs by subjecting them to the direct rays of the hot sun — a 

 common mistake of the retailer. 



CANDLING AND GRADING MARKET EGGS. 



While by no means all eggs delivered to the larger markets are candled, 

 there is that portion of the trade, handled by the large produce dealers, 

 vvhich is carefully examined and graded. The process of candling con- 

 sists simply in the examination of the tgg in a dark room before an open- 

 ing in a shield covering a small incandescent light or coal oil lamp. Before 

 such a light, an &gg appears comparatively transparent, sufficiently so to 

 enable the expert to determine the extent to which the contents of the 

 egg have evaporated, or the degree to which the tgg has deteriorated in 

 quality. The illustration (Fig. 8), which is a flashlight photograph, shows 



