142 BIGGIE POULTRY BOOK. 



to pack separate!}-, or, if packed in one barrel, they 

 should be grouped together and the weight of each 

 noted on the cover. 



All shipments should be made so as to be sure to 

 reach the market before the close of the week and at 

 least three days before a holiday. 



For long-distance shipments poultry is usually 

 cooped alive in crates or hampers made for the pur- 

 pose of slats or of wire and splints. Different kinds 

 of poultry and birds of different ages and sizes should 

 not be crowded into one hamper or the smaller and 

 weaker may be trampled to death by their stronger 

 companions. To be sure of rapid transit it is safest 

 to ship poultry by express, but as to this every one 

 must be guided by circumstances. 



Eggs are now nearly all shipped in crates having 

 -what are called pasteboard "fillers." The standard 

 crate holds thirty dozen and the gift form of it that is 

 sold with the eggs is popular with dealers. The pro- 

 ducer of eggs who can ship once or twice even,- week 

 to a dealer or grocer having good customers, and who 

 will send only clean and strictly fresh eggs, can usually 

 get a few cents above the market price. The vicious 

 system of collecting and marketing eggs in vogue 

 in this country is responsible, to some extent, for 

 the low prices that prevail at certain seasons. The 

 eggs are left in the nests a few days, then kept in the 

 house for a week, then traded for groceries at the 

 village store. In a week or two they are sent by the 

 grocery-man to the citv and through a dealer are dis- 

 tributed to city grocers, finally reaching the con- 

 sumer as " fresh country eggs." 



