254 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



was cheaper. So you see if one wishes cheap and rapid transit, the 

 parcel post seems to be ahead in this experiment. Mrs. Julian 

 Heath of the Housewives' League of New York City is arranging to 

 have farm products sent direct to the consumers. They will have 

 a producers' and consumers' registry. In Germany, I am told, 

 there are no express companies. Freight and mail carry all the 

 packages. Some are claiming that husbands in the city can "shop 

 early to catch the mail" — that is, buy at the market before they go 

 to their offices or place of business and have purchases sent by the 

 afternoon delivery to their homes in time for a seven-o'clock dinner. 



I see where one man sent a thousand brick by mail as samples 

 for the purpose of advertising. We home makers here assembled, 

 who take special interest in eggs and dairy products, may very 

 properly talk about that phase of the subject. I see that the St. 

 Louis Republic sent eggs into three different zones successfully. I 

 tried an experiment and sent eggs to the first and second zones from 

 Appleton City, that is, to Nevada and Kansas City, respectively. 

 The eggs were wrapped in paper and placed in pasteboard boxes 

 having egg case fillers in the boxes. The boxes were then wrapped 

 in heavy paper. The sixteen eggs sent to Nevada cost eleven cents 

 by parcel post. On arrival there were eleven perfect eggs, three 

 slightly cracked and two badly cracked. The eighteen sent to 

 Kansas City cost fourteen cents. On their arrival there were eleven 

 perfect eggs, five badly cracked and two that were a total loss, the 

 contents having all run out. One end of this box had been mashed 

 in. They were certainly very roughly handled, but none of the 

 contents of the broken eggs leaked from the package. So, of course, 

 I did not receive any letter from the postal authorities finding fault 

 with my method of packing. As yet I have seen no advertisement 

 of egg containers for parcel post, but I am sure they can be made 

 cheaply and successfully. It may, however, require considerable 

 experimenting before an ideal package is perfected. We could use 

 these containers and then, after a customer gets several, have them 

 returned. I see where one man sent twelve eggs to Washington 

 in a container and only one was cracked. 



The rural carriers take eggs to town in baskets, pails or the 

 same way that we market them. I should think the large cities 

 and towns could make use of this method. 



My friend in Kansas City said they could secure nothing but cold 

 storage eggs, and they were six cents a dozen higher there than in 

 Appleton City. When eggs are sent in large quantities they will 

 go cheaper by express than by parcel post, at the present rates. 



