DISTRIBUTION OF MARKET PRODUCTS 289 



weight. Such a law does not remain long in force, because weigh- 

 ing small quantities of eggs is troublesome and the greater number 

 of consumers prefer to buy them by the dozen. In fact, while eggs 

 are nominally sold by count both at wholesale and at retail, they are 

 usually assorted according to size, and the prices graduated to suit. 

 Considering size, condition, quality, and color of shell, as many as 

 ten grades of eggs are sometimes made. Although the color of the 

 shell of an egg has no relation whatever to its palatability or its 

 nutritive value, eggs of a certain color sometimes command a pre- 

 mium. Thus, in New York City white eggs of the best grades will 

 bring from five to ten cents a dozen more than brown eggs of 

 equal quality, while in Boston the situation is exactly reversed. 



When most of the poultry of each kind in any market is of 

 about the same size and quality, it is customary to sell live poultry 

 at wholesale at a uniform price by the dozen, and to sell at retail 

 by the piece or by the pair. But as soon as any considerable 

 part of the poultry of any kind in a market is larger than the 

 general run of supplies, a difference is made, in the prices per 

 dozen or per piece or per pair, between small birds and large 

 ones. If the size of the largest specimens further increases, the 

 range of weights becomes too great to be classified in this way, 

 and selling by weight soon becomes the common practice. Con- 

 ditions are the same for dead poultry, except that the change to 

 selling by weight comes more quickly. 



In preparing poultry for market by the method that has been 

 described the head and feet were left on and the internal organs 

 were not removed. The reason for this is that poultry keeps 

 much better in this state. Removing these parts exposes the 

 flesh at several places to the action of the air and of bacteria, 

 which cause putrefaction. In many markets in poultry-producing 

 sections it is customary to sell poultry drawn and with the head 

 and feet off. In places where most of the poultry comes from a 

 distance the waste parts of the carcass are not removed until it 

 is bought by the consumer. Some people who buy in this way 



