286 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



not be sold at any price at seasons of plenty if there were no 

 way of keeping them until a season of scarcity. For about half 

 a century after the production of eggs and poultry began to 

 receive special attention in this country, the profits of the ordi- 

 nary producer were severely cut every spring and fall, because 

 the market was overstocked. Consumers derived little benefit 

 from this situation, because they could not use the surplus be- 

 fore it spoiled. The popular idea of the way to remedy the 

 conditions was to have hens lay when eggs were scarce, and to 

 have poultry ready for sale when supplies were insufficient. 

 Experience, however, has shown that it is practically impossible 

 to have a very large proportion of things of this kind produced 

 out of their natural season. The relatively small numbers of 

 people who succeed in doing so make very good profits, but the 

 masses of producers and consumers are not benefited. 



The solution of the problem of carrying the surplus of a 

 season of abundance to a season of scarcity was discovered when 

 methods of making ice artificially were perfected and it was 

 found that the equipment used in manufacturing ice could be 

 used to cool, to any desired degree, rooms for the storage of 

 perishable produce. This form of refrigeration was at first used 

 in place of the ordinary method (with natural ice), to keep goods 

 for short periods. Much larger quantities could be taken care 

 of in this way when for any reason a market was temporarily 

 overstocked. 



For hundreds of years it had been quite a common practice 

 to preserve eggs in various ways. By packing them in salt, or 

 in salt brine, or in limewater, eggs may be kept in very good 

 condition for several months, and sometimes for nearly a year. 

 As limed and pickled eggs were regularly sold in the mar- 

 kets, every dealer in eggs at once saw the possibilities of cold 

 storage as a factor in the market egg trade. Wherever there 

 was a storage house, dealers began to buy eggs when prices were 

 low, and store them to sell when prices were high. At first a 



