STUDIES IN EGG-MARKETING 807 



fairly steady or on the rise, he buys f, o. b. at country points. 

 If conditions change and prices begin to fall, he is likely to 

 change his terms to f. o. b. for his primary market or cease to 

 purchase outright, offering simply to accept shipments on com- 

 mission. At such times, therefore, the commission business will 

 increase. On the whole, however, and during the greater portion 

 of the year the handling of most of the products on the farm has 

 now become a merchandise business and is handled by jobbers. 



While the attitude of the jobber as a buyer varies with the 

 trend of prices, his disposition to sell is likewise affected by 

 market conditions. This was well illustrated by the flurry in the 

 egg market which occurred in December, 191 2. Owing to un- 

 expected weather changes at that time, an unusual increase of 

 fresh eggs was placed on the market, and this caused no little 

 uneasiness in the minds of those jobbers who were holding a 

 considerable supply in cold storage. They realized the impor- 

 tance of hastening the unloading of storage eggs. While whole- 

 sale prices declined somewhat abruptly, the retailers did not lower 

 their prices accordingly. This tended to prevent the jobber from 

 disposing of his stock as rapidly as he otherwise would have 

 done. His interests as well as those of the consumer were there- 

 fore adversely affected by the action of the retailers. This ex- 

 plains why jobbing firms welcomed the movement started at this 

 time by women's leagues in certain leading cities to reduce the 

 retail price of eggs. 



Women's organizations undertook to purchase large lots from 

 certain jobbers and sell directly to the consumer. While relatively 

 little was actually handled in this way, it nevertheless had impor- 

 tant effects, especially to the extent that it attracted the attention 

 of the public to the merits of storage eggs. The practice of sell- 

 ing the better storage eggs as fresh, leaving inferior storage eggs 

 to represent the storage product, had created a prejudice in the 

 mind of the public against storage goods in general. The op- 

 portunity now afforded to test storage eggs on their merits was, 

 therefore, a distinct gain to the public, while it at the same time 

 enabled the jobbers to unload to better advantage during a period 

 of falling prices. 



