94 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



you. The Maine experiment station has made some very interesting experi- 

 ments along this line. Taking houses of the same size, and pullets of the 

 same breed and hatch, they have repeatedly demonstrated that a house 

 built for twenty-five Vv^ith twenty-five in it will give more eggs than a house 

 built for twenty-five hens with fifty in it, and at half the cost for food. 



However skillful we may be in the mating, rearing of fowls and the 

 production of eggs, we can not call ourselves successful poultrymen unless 

 we are good salesmen. All eggs look alike to the grocer, unless he arranges 

 differently. As matters now stand, the farmer who takes in a basket of 

 new laid eggs to market in winter receives the lowest wholesale price of 

 stored eggs. Farmers can and do pack their summer eggs for winter sales, 

 but if the eggs are fresh, a farmer should no more expect to receive the 

 price of stored eggs for fresh ones than he should expect to receive hot 

 house fruit at the price of canned fruit. The way to change this is for 

 the farmer to grade, and pack his eggs for the fancy trade. If he will pack 

 his eggs in cartons, holding a dozen eggs, stamp them with his trade-mark, 

 and stand behind it with his personal guarantee of the freshness and 

 flavor of the eggs, he will get an advance over market price on every dozen 

 sold. Grocers say they are willing and glad to pay a premium for new laid 

 eggs, but that farmers are not regular enough with their deliveries to be 

 relied on. They claim, and justly, that they can not afford to make a 

 demand for an article and not be able to supply it. We have sold eggs so 

 packed for several years, and have received from two to ten cents premium 

 from the grocers. A thousand cartons costs but $5 printed with name 

 and address. In what way can $5 be invested where it will bring larger 

 returns? 



If we make special efforts to get fresh eggs, and to have them reach 

 the consumer while still of good flavor, we will create an increased demand 

 at increased prices. 



The hen is the originator of the sealed package. Unfortunately the 

 fact that the package is unbroken is not a guarantee of the flavor of the 

 goods. There are city families who do not know the flavor of a fresh egg. 

 You know, it was a city boy who refused to eat his fresh egg because it 

 had no taste nor smell to it. 



I have confined myself to the egg side because when farmers solve the 

 problem of successful egg production they have solved the problem of 

 better poultry and more of it, and the egg question appeals more to the 

 farmer because, as the Scotch say, "The eggs will pay for the horse before 

 the chickens pay for the saddle." I might bewilder you with statistics of 

 what the hen has done, of how her eggs annually equal the wheat crop in 

 value, and of the length of time it would take her to pay the national debt; 

 the national debt does not trouble you, it is your debt that hurts. Your 

 hens properly managed will pay your debts, wipe out your mortgage and 

 educate your children. 



The President : The paper is now open for disciission. 



A Member: I would like to ask the lady what her source of 

 grain and green food is? 



