4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN No. 282 



whether there is any relationship between quahty and price. The study will 

 also determine the extent to which these quality factors affect price and the 

 relative importance of each, if statistical measures are applied. 



The method used in the study was to purchase eggs at retail from a selected 

 sample of stores representative of the consuming areas in Massachusetts. At 

 each store visited a purchase was made consisting of one dozen of each grade of 

 eggs sold by that store. Each sample was given a number and a form was filled 

 out giving data concerning the type of store, the name of the grade, the price 

 for which it was sold, and other identifying information. The samples were 

 taken immediately to a central point where they were candled by an egg special- 

 ist. They were weighed and the external characteri.stics noted. 



In order to correct for seasonal conditions, samples were collected at three 

 different times during the year: first, during the period of highest prices in 

 November; second, during April when receipts of eggs in all the central markets 

 were heavy and the average quality was high; third, in August, when current 

 receipts were low and the quality of production was also low, due to temperature 

 and methods of handling. The first sample was taken in November, 1928, in 

 the cities of Springfield, Worcester and Boston, while the samples collected in 

 April and August (1929) were confined to the metropolitan area in and around 

 Boston. 



Quality Factors Considered 



An attempt was made to obtain a measure of every quality factor that might 

 have any influence on price. The factors considered were as follows: 



I. External 



a. Appearance — clean or dirty 



b. Color 



c. Number of broken eggs, crax or leakers 



d. Weight of eggs — net weight per dozen 



e. Range in weight 



II. Internal 



a. Shrinkage as indicated by air space 



b. Condition of yolk 



c. Condition of white 



d. Inedibles — such as rots, stuck yolks, blood and meat spots 



Method of Indicating Quality 



For each dozen of eggs purchased a data sheet was filled out similar to that 

 in Figure 1. External characteristics were indicated by count and internal meas- 

 urement. Thus, on appearance the number of dirty eggs was indicated. On 

 color the number of eggs of the less important color was noted. On uniformity 

 the range in weight between the largest and smallest egg was noted. The net 

 weight was indicated by weighing the eggs as sold in the carton and deducting 

 the weight of the carton. 



In indicating the int(>nial quality the factors were graded into classes. Thus, 

 air space was divided into five classes as follows: 



