The African Trade in Eggs. 375 



abnormally high price, deprived of their use. They were then 

 fetching 7s. Gd. per dozen, and at the hotel where I put up, when 

 egg's were included in the breakfast menu, no more than one would 

 be supplied to each guest. The price may be a little lower now, but 

 it is still sufficiently high to provide a substantial margin of profit 

 for the exporter, importer and merchant. 



The farmers, poultry breeders and others interested in the 

 industry, in Victoria should recognise that here in Africa there exists 

 an insatiable market for all the poultry and eggs they can possibly 

 produce for years to come. That knowledge should encourage 

 greater production, as it is only by having ample supplies in excess 

 of local requirements that we can hope to establish and maintain an 

 export trade in any article. 



Given the necessary surplus for export, it rests Avith the shippers 

 to contribute their quota of effort towards securing this trade, by 

 adopting such methods of exportation as will induce the buyers to 

 entrust them witli their trade. This co-operation of effort of the 

 producer and shipper could not fail to establish Victoria as a market 

 for eggs in the minds of the African importer, and tend to secure a 

 substantial share of tho trade in this commodity in this astonishingly 

 non-producing and hungry country. 



