47 



producer would have to deal with many consumers and every consumer 

 would have to deal with several producers. There is a method and means 

 of organization whereby the consumer shall deal with a man who under- 

 stands their needs and their wants, and then that man shall deal with the 

 producers. I shall be able to show this method better with the lantern 

 slides tonight. 



We believe, as a rule, that some man is needed between this pro- 

 ducer, who just specializes in producing the best stuff he can in the cheap- 

 est way, and this consumer, on the other hand, who should endeavor to 

 buy more economically than he does at the present time. 



So we go on to the third phase of this question, which is a matter 

 of importance, and that is the buying of the product. That can be 

 improved. We can make an improvement in the methods of production, 

 methods of distribution and also improve the methods of buying on the 

 part of the consumers. The high cost of Hving is undoubtedly due to a 

 great extent to the extravagant wants of the consumers, who are becom- 

 ing more and more exacting all the time, and the housewife's problem is 

 that of learning to buy more economically. They do not buy the very 

 cheapest grade of eggs which they can get and still have eggs which are 

 suitable for their various purposes. The housewives do not have to buy 

 strictly fresh white eggs to make cake with. They do not have to buy 

 the very besst eggs for that purpose. You do not have to have white eggs 

 instead of brown eggs. Brown eggs are just as good as white eggs. The 

 difference in price between white eggs and brown eggs in the New York 

 market is not based on the relative quality of these eggs, as a rule, but 

 is based on the foolish tastes of the consumers who buy those eggs and 

 who are willing to pay more for the white eggs; consequently there is 

 more of a demand for the white eggs. There is no difference in the interior 

 quality of a white egg and that of a brown egg. The consumers of New 

 York and Philadelphia should use brown eggs instead of white eggs if 

 they want to lower the cost of living. It is said among cold storage men 

 that brown eggs even keep better in cold storage than white eggs. That 

 is supposed to be due, I believe, to some difference in the shell, but I 

 have never been able to find out just why a brown egg keeps better than 

 a white egg. If brown eggs are worth more than white eggs for storage, 

 then they should be higher in price than white eggs, but that is not the 

 case at this time. It is just the other way; white eggs are higher and the 

 consumers have the idea that the higher price for white eggs indicates 

 that the white egg is better. That is especially so in New York City, 

 due to the fact that most of the large farms around New York City have 

 White Leghorns and other Mediterranean breeds which produce white 

 eggs, while the majority of the brown eggs come from the Middle West 

 and from the South, where the farmers have more of the larger general 

 purpose breeds. In Boston the brown egg usually brings more than the 

 white egg, and this condition is caused by a reversal of the conditions 

 around New York City. 



