260 POULTRY STATISTICS 



eggs at 12 cities, 1902-1911) for the year is represented by 

 1,000, the index price will be approximately 105 for Jan.,, 

 89 for Feb., 71 for Mar., 66 for Apr., 65 for May, 64 for 

 June, 67 for July, 75 for Aug., 84 for Sept., 94 for Oct., 

 107 for Nov., and 113 for Dec. 



Letting 100 represent the average price paid to farmers 

 of the United States in the month when prices are low- 

 est, the average on the first of each month in the last 

 3 yr. was 180 on Jan. 1, 153 on Feb. 1, 118 on 

 Mar. 1, 100 on Apr. 1, 102 on May 1, 102 on June 1, 

 101 on July 1, 104 on Aug. 1, 113 on Sept. 1, 128 on 

 Oct. 1, 146 on Nov. 1, and 171 on Dec. 1. In quality 

 country-shipped eggs are frequently freshest in spring 

 when prices decline rapidly and poorest in late summer 

 and fall when prices tend upwards, causing a disposition 

 to hold. 



In Jan., 1910, and again in June, 1910, the United 

 States Department of Agriculture made an investigation 

 through its agents, in 63 cities throughout the United 

 States, concerning the price which retail dealers were 

 paying for eggs and the price which consumers were 

 paying for fresh eggs; at the same time inquiries were 

 made through correspondence with crop reporters of the 

 Bureau of Statistics adjacent to these cities concerning 

 the prices received by producers. From the reports re- 

 ceived it appears that in June r 1910, consumers paid an 

 average of 24c. per doz. ; retail dealers paid 19.8c., and 

 near-by producers received 18.7c; in Jan., 1910, con- 

 sumers paid 38.1c., retailers paid 32c., and near-by 

 producers received 30. 4c. The average price to producers 

 for the entire United States in the middle of June, 1910, 

 was about 18.3c., and in the last week of Jan., 1910, 

 about 29c. 



Influence of Cold Storage on Egg Prices. Cold storage 

 of eggs has developed into an important trade factor 

 in the last 15 yr. approximately. It is generally as- 

 sumed that its influence is toward a leveling of prices; 

 that is, tending to raise prices of eggs in the spring, 

 when they are plentiful and cheap, and to keep down 



