THE BRITISH FARMER'S ADVANTAGE 13 



food, but also for use in various industrial pro- 

 cesses. It is obvious, therefore, that the British 

 farmer has an almost unassailable position in 

 providing his home market with those new-laid 

 varieties which realize the best prices. The only 

 country that can seriously compete with him in 

 this respect is France, and it is a curious fact 

 that ten or fifteen years ago the best quality of 

 eggs from France had a higher market value in 

 this country than English " new-laid " eggs, the 

 reason being that whereas in France the eggs 

 were " graded " into sizes and qualities, so that 

 what were described as new-laid could be de- 

 pended on as such, in England the farmers had 

 a way of sending to market as " new-laid " all 

 the eggs they came across on their farms, with- 

 out troubling to keep back those that had already 

 been (say) partially hatched. But the British 

 farmer is improving his methods, and the present 

 position is that while the importation of the 

 cheaper kind of eggs from all other countries 

 has greatly increased, that of the best, as well 

 as of the other, qualities from France has 

 steadily declined. Fifteen years ago the value 

 of French eggs imported into Great Britain 

 stood at £1,000,000. In 1902 it was less than 

 £900,000. 

 It would seem, therefore, that the British 



