162 Cooperation in Agriculture 



lar time for taking this stock of eggs to market. In the 

 spring, when they are most plentiful and the market is 

 falling, he is apt to go weekly, or the egg peddler calls at 

 the farm. When hot weather comes and the lay falls off, 

 he waits for a larger number or is too busy with 'crops' 

 to drive to town. Meanwhile shrinkage and incubation 

 are going on rapidly, and, as a last insult to the hen which 

 laid a perfectly fresh egg and the consumer who wants 

 a perfectly fresh egg, he often goes to market with an um- 

 brella over himself, but the basket or box of eggs is ex- 

 posed to the summer sun, a heat which is often 110 de- 

 grees F. and may be 10 degrees or more above that. In 

 the autumn, with a still smaller lay and a rising market, 

 he holds eggs for high winter prices. The conditions 

 under which he keeps them are not conducive to good pres- 

 ervation, and the time is inordinately long. 



"From the country merchant to the packing-house. The 

 country merchant handles eggs as a by-product, taking 

 them in exchange for merchandise. He makes his profits 

 on the merchandise taken in trade, not the eggs, frequently 

 giving an inflated price for them to hold the trade of the 

 desired customer. He, too, is more apt to be careless 

 than careful of them while they are in his possession, stor- 

 ing them in hot or damp quarters and holding for high 

 prices when production is low. 



"The country merchant and peddler buy eggs 'case 

 count,' rather than 'loss off.' Buying 'case count' means 

 that a uniform price is paid per dozen, irrespective 

 of the quality of the eggs. Rots bring just as much as 

 good eggs. Buying 'loss off' means that the eggs are 

 candled before payment is made, and rotten and broken 



