MARKETING EGGS AND POULTRY 343 



preserve the quality. Second, by the direct method the pro- 

 ducer of good eggs is able to get a price for them which he 

 is not able to secure when his eggs are marketed in common 

 with those of various other producers. Third, by shipping 

 direct to consumers he is able to add to his profits a part at 

 least of the profit that went to various middlemen. There 

 will always be needed, however, an outlet for surplus stock 

 which is only furnished at present through the medium of 

 the jobber and retailer. 



Buying by Quality. This brings up the question of buy- 

 ing by quality. The greatest objection to present methods 

 of marketing eggs is the heretofore almost universal prac- 

 tice of dealers paying for them by the dozen without refer- 

 ence to their quality. There is one price for eggs at the 

 local stores. A farmer who once a week gathers his eggs 

 from stolen nests under the barn and in the fence corners 

 and takes them to town, gets the i ( going price ' ' at the store. 

 Another farmer who gathers the eggs regularly from clean 

 nests once a day and twice a day in hot weather and takes 

 them to town every two or three days, gets the same ' ' going 

 price. ' ' He has no inducement to maintain the good quality 

 of his eggs. The system does not encourage it; rather it 

 encourages carelessness on the part of the producer. It 

 offers a premium on dishonesty. The wonder is, on the 

 one hand, that the producer is able to maintain his in- 

 tegrity, and on the other that the consumer is able to get 

 an egg of good quality. 



Before the eggs reach the consumer the broody hen sits 

 on them a while, the sun incubates them a while, the rail- 

 road rides on them a while, the city storekeeper broods 

 over them a while, and the consumer raves over them quite 

 a while. 



The storekeeper is not alone responsible for this method. 

 The dealers and commission men follow the same method 



