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kept for a very long period, it will rapidly decompose. The fertile egg is 

 very undesirable for use as a market product. We tell the farmers of 

 these things and help them to decide which breed to pick out, if they are 

 going to enlarge their poultry business, and they appreciate the informa- 

 tion. They realize that if they do not produce the right sort of products, 

 they cannot demand a high price for it. 



We believe that the association is working on a fairly efficient basis. 

 Of course, just as soon as we have a co-operative organization, there is a 

 tendency for the operator to use less efficient methods than he will if it 

 is his own private enterprise. 



One of the great drawbacks in getting an organization started is 

 that when many men are banded together, responsibility is liable to rest 

 upon no one person and the efforts become slackened. In my work with 

 this association I have found that the margin of profit between the pro- 

 ducer and the wholesaler is usually very small. There is not such a large 

 margin of profit as is often represented. There are many producers who 

 have enough eggs so that the benefits of co-operation are very slight and 

 they are able to send their eggs direct to the consumers. They have 

 enough products to send direct to the hotel or large consumer, and it is 

 not our purpose to handle them now. We just handle the products from 

 the smaller producer, and if he does not have enough to send to us direct 

 we collect them with many others and thereby save the countless delays 

 occurring when the eggs pass through the ordinary ''huckster-country 

 store" route. The more producers w^ho furnish products and the more 

 produce they can furnish, the less will be the cost of handfing and the 

 lower will be the cost of this produce to the consumer. 



My time is limited, and I will be able to tell you more about this 

 problem, with the lantern slides which will be shown this evening. 



Mr. Felix Albright: I would like to ask the rate of charge for a 

 day's board at the hotel that pays sixty-seven cents for eggs. What 

 would they charge me a day for a day's board at that hotel? 



Mr. Benjamin: Of course, these eggs go to one of the largest hotels 

 in the city. 



Mr. Albright: I would like to know the cost of board for one day. 



Mr. Benjamin: Of course, the hotel furnishes other services than 

 that required in the preparation of eggs. While the labor itself may be 

 nominal, there is a lot of other things necessary in a hotel in order to 

 satisfy their customers. 



Mr. Herbert P. Brown: I would like to ask why there is this 

 difference in the price of eggs. You say the farmers got thirty cents last 

 year, and this year they got about sixty cents. What made that dif- 

 ference so much as that? 



