CHAPTER XXXIV. 



EGGS AS A CREAMERY SIDE LINE. 



The creamery is just as much the logical market for 

 the farmer's eggs as it is for his milk and cream. In 

 all essential respects the egg situation today is similar 

 to the butter situation before the days of creameries. The 

 United States government estimates that forty-five mil- 

 lion dollars are lost annually on eggs which are spoiled 

 through improper methods of handling. Similar losses 

 used to be sustained on dairy butter owing to poor qual- 

 ity and poor markets. The country grocery is just as 

 much the wrong market for eggs as it is for butter. 



It has long been known that farmers who make good 

 butter cannot afford to sell it to the local grocer because 

 such butter commands no better price than poor butter. 

 That is, the grocer figures on making up losses on poor 

 butter by cutting the price of good butter, and hence 

 establishes an average price for all which is considerably 

 less than that received for creamery butter. 



The tgg situation is similar to that of dairy butter. 

 At the country grocery, poor eggs command the same 

 price as good ones. This is one reason why so many 

 eggs are spoiled when they reach the grocer, who, in 

 turn, allows many more to spoil by holding them too long 

 at high temperatures. A further objection to selling eggs 

 at the local stores is that cash, as a rule, cannot be real- 

 ized for them. 



Preventable Losses in Eggs. In placing the annual 



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