CHAPTER XV. 

 Marketing Eggs. 



The easiest money to be made in the poultry business is in marketing 

 the products. A successful poultryman must be a good salesman. The 

 extra money that may be secured by selling eggs to a special trade at an 

 advanced price is almost clear gain. It should be 25 to 30 per cent addi- 

 tional above the profit in selling at the highest wholesale price. The 

 margin will vary from one cent per dozen in small towns to five to 10 

 cents per dozen in large cities. It is not an easy matter to secure this 

 high-class trade. Like everything else worth while, it requires years of 

 effort and painstaking care. A poultryman must grow into his trade. 

 High price is simply the premium paid for confidence in the goods. It is 

 a just reward for a good reputation. Any neat and careful poultryman, 

 however, should find no difficulty in raising his price two cents per dozen 

 above the highest market in his neighborhood. As his customers become 

 educated up to good eggs the price can be increased. The first essential 

 in working up a special market is the ability to produce and deliver the 

 goods. To do this three things are absolutely necessary; good eggs, an 

 attractive package and regular delivery every week in the year. One is 

 just as important as the other. 



GOOD EGGS. — There is a great difference in eggs. They must, first 

 of all, be new laid, that is to say, not over one week old. If they are gath- 

 ered regularly each day and placed in a cool, dry room, they should suit 

 the requirements of the most delicate taste. Daily or twice a week ship- 

 ments are unnecessary with a private family trade, and would greatly 

 increase the labor of handling and keeping of accounts as well as multi- 

 plying express charges. On the whole "eggs is eggs" when they go to 

 or leave the average country store. A good farmer's good egg sells for 

 no more than the poor farmer's poor egg when they once get into the class 

 of ordinary "store-gathered" eggs, because they are in bad company. It is 

 a positive injustice to the hens that laid the eggs, to the man who grew the 

 grain to produce them, and to the one who gathers them thus to sell 

 good eggs for the lowest possible price. The element of uncertainty as to 

 just what is covered by the egg shell exaggerates the real difference and 

 magnifies the premium paid for guaranteed quality. In other words, 

 people are willing to pay an extra price rather than take any chances. 

 Eggs are bought and sold largely "under sight and under seen" in the 

 general market. While the general quality of market eggs has consid- 

 erably increased in some respects of late years, due to the systematic 

 handling of eggs by large dealers, the feature of age, which has much to 

 do with quality, remains the same. 



