STUDIES IN EGG-MARKETING 787 



housewife or children. The time for gathering eggs was usually 

 determined according to the needs of the household, and then 

 it was often sufficient to bring enough eggs for the purpose in 

 hand. A thorough search covering all the premises was generally 

 left as an important part of the preparation for a trip to town. 



At such irregular times as it was deemed convenient to go to 

 the local market the egg basket was taken along. The exposure 

 en route varied with the season of the year. By far the larger 

 portion of eggs was sold during the spring and summer months, 

 however, and little or no thought was given to the care of eggs 

 on the road except precautions to prevent breakage. 



The country merchant received the eggs in bulk at a flat rate 

 per dozen. According to this method "an egg was an egg," and 

 one dozen was treated on a par with another. One farmer might 

 be methodical in his habits, gathering his eggs with regularity 

 and bringing them to town at certain intervals. Another farmer 

 might be entirely devoid of method, coming to town at uncertain 

 intervals and bringing eggs the quantity and quality of which 

 would be equally uncertain. 



Aside from the small volume of eggs sold locally, no attempt 

 whatever was made by the merchant to distinguish between the 

 different lots of eggs prepared for shipment. He had neither 

 knowledge of how to discriminate nor facilities that would assist 

 in so doing. On the other hand, his own quarters were seldom 

 if ever fit for the storage of eggs pending shipment. Some cor- 

 ner in the back of the store in close proximity to a barrel of fish, 

 a stock of tobacco or cheese, often served the purpose. Shipment 

 would then be made whenever deemed expedient in the light 

 of the supply on hand, the merchant's time, and the facilities 

 for transport. 



In preparing shipments the merchant resorted to methods very 

 different from those in vogue to-day. One way was to pack the 

 eggs in oats, bran, shorts, or salt, in wooden shoe boxes. As 

 many as one hundred dozen were placed in each box. Another 

 common method was to saw a barrel in two at the center and 

 equip each tub-shaped half with rope handles. The eggs were 

 then dumped in without even packing material and were left 



