338 



POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



ducer 27 cents, plus express, which was about 3 cents a 

 dozen. This was a gain of 6 cents to the farmer over the 

 usual method of selling to local stores, and a saving to the 

 consumer of 5 cents a dozen. The eggs were shipped in 

 crates of 12 dozen. Some of the customers divided the 

 eggs with their neighbors ; others used them all, though they 

 had to keep some of them two or three weeks. At the end 

 of that time they reported that the eggs were better than 



those purchased at 

 stores. This is a trade 

 worth looking after. 

 The disadvantag- 

 es of direct selling 

 are, first, that the 

 express charges op- 

 erate against ship- 

 ping in small quan- 

 tities. The express 

 charges on a!2-dozen 

 case may be about as 

 much as on a 30-doz- 

 en case, and two 

 cases of 30 dozen may be shipped at the same cost prac- 

 tically as one case. If the express charges were to be fixed 

 at so much a dozen, irrespective of the size of crate or num- 

 ber of dozens shipped, it would encourage the extension of 

 direct shipment. As now, the rates make it an object for 

 the farmer who has good eggs to sell to take them to the 

 local shipper at the same price another farmer gets who has 

 poor eggs to sell, because the local shipper can ship the eggs 

 at less cost than the individual farmer on account of be- 

 ing able to make larger shipments. 



Second, there will be times when the producer will have 



A 12-DOZEN CRATE 



This crate may be used for shipping eggs to 

 consumers by express or parcel post, direct from 

 the farm. 



