500 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



most attractive form. Too often the markets in Missouri display- 

 products which are poorly prepared and hence do not find ready 

 sale. 



What has been said about marketing so far applies particu- 

 larly to the product which is consumed within the State. Missouri 

 is one of the few states which produce a greater amount of poultry 

 than is consumed within their own boundaries. That which is 

 shipped out of the State generally leaves in a very attractive form. 

 Because of the abundance of poultry, large poultry fattening estab- 

 lishments have been established in practically every city which 

 has more than one railroad and in many places which are con- 

 veniently situated for collecting poultry from the surrounding ter- 

 ritory. In these places the poultry is especially fattened, dry 

 picked, precooled, carefully graded, boxed and put in refrigerator 

 cars for shipment to the eastern markets. Where special fatten- 

 ing is done it is possible to place on the market birds of excellent 

 quality, and we find that most of the poultry shipped out of the 

 State finds ready sale and also that the proportion of live poultry 

 which is shipped out in carload lots is gradually decreasing. 



The condition relative to eggs is open to vast improvement. 

 It is estimated in conservative figures that fifteen million dozen 

 eggs a year produced in Missouri are unfit for food because of 

 carelessness in the manner in which they are handled. This repre- 

 sents a loss of about three million dollars, and this loss is borne 

 largely by the producer and the consumer — the producer in Mis- 

 souri and the consumer in the eastern markets, where a large per- 

 centage of the Missouri eggs find their way. 



This loss is largely due to the system of buying which are 

 in vogue in the Middle West. Eggs are produced on the farms 

 and marketed, perhaps, once a week through the grocery stores, are 

 then shipped to the egg depot and from there go to the commis- 

 sion men in the large cities, who dispose of them to jobbers and 

 they to the retailers. It is seen that the egg goes on a long 

 journey from the producer to the consumer. A large portion of 

 this loss is due to the carelessness of the farmers or to improper 

 methods of handling the eggs on their way to cold storage. The 

 present method of handling in a large majority of cases does not 

 encourage the producer in the production of eggs of quality, 

 especially when purchased by the country store. Often the store- 

 keeper, in order to obtain the trade of the farmer, pays a higher 

 price for the eggs than he sells them for, many times losing money 



