Cooperation 163 



eggs are returned to the farmer. Occasionally a differ- 

 ence is made between first and second quality eggs. 



"The farmer usually delivers the eggs to the store- 

 keeper or packer's agent by wagon. From these receivers 

 they commonly go to a central shipping plant, which is 

 generally known as a 'packing-house/ and which handles 

 goods in car lots. This plant may or may not be provided 

 with the proper facilities for doing the work assigned it. 

 To get to the packer, however, the eggs generally go by 

 train and in comparatively small quantities, therefore, as 

 'less than car lots,' or what is known to railroad men as 

 'l.c.l.'s.' For such small lots and for short hauls the 

 goods are picked up by a local freight train. The wait 

 at the station, which is frequently only an open platform 

 on which the cases remain until the arrival of the train, 

 is ruinous to quality when the weather is warm. 



"The haul in the 'pick up' freight car, the temperature 

 of which is governed entirely by atmospheric conditions, 

 results in rapid deterioration in summer and oftentimes 

 freezing in winter. Generally the time required for the 

 haul from the agent or store-keeper to the central shipping 

 plant or wholesaler is 24 hours or less. However, it may 

 be longer when the territory drawn upon is large, as in 

 southwestern Kansas or Oklahoma, or when connections 

 with small branch lines are not frequent. Under such 

 circumstances the car becomes an excellent incubator, 

 holding well the sun's heat during the cooler hours of 

 night, and it is not unusual in the summer months for the 

 packer to be greeted by the cheerful ' cheep-cheep ! ' 

 of newly hatched chicks as the cases are carried into his 

 receiving room. This does not mean that atmospheric 



