HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED 
When one buyer begins quoting case count, the remainder 
rapidly follow suit and case count buying is quickly re-estab- 
lished. 
The City Distribution of Eggs. 
In name, city egg dealers are usually commission houses, 
but in practice the majority of large lots of eggs are now 
bought by telegraph and the prices definitely known before 
shipment. 
In the larger cities eggs are dealt in by a produce board of 
trade. Such exchanges frequently have rules of grading and 
an official inspector. / This gives stability to egg dealing and 
largely solves the problem of uncertainty as to quality, so 
annoying to the country buyer. In the city even, where offi- 
cial grading is not resorted to, personal inspection of the lot 
by the buyer is practical, and one may know what he is 
getting. 
In many cases, especially in smaller cities, the receiver is 
the jobber and sells to the grocers. In larger cities the re- 
ceiver sells to a firm who makes a business of selling them to 
groceries, restaurants, etc. 
‘The jobber grades the eggs as the trade demands. In a 
western city this may mean two grades—good and bad; in 
New York, it may mean seven or eight grades, and the finer 
of these ones being packed in sealed cartons, perhaps each 
egg stamped with the dealer’s brand. 
The city retailer of eggs include grocers, dairies, butcher 
shops, soda fountains, hotels, restaurants and bakeries. The 
soda fountain trade and the first-class hotel are among the 
high bidder for strictly first-class eggs. Many such institu- 
tions in eastern cities are supplied directly from large poultry 
farms. The figures at which such eggs are purchased are fre- 
quently at a given premium above the market quotation, or a 
year round contract price for a given number of eggs per 
week. This premium over common farm eggs may range from 
one or two cents in western cities, to five to twenty cents in 
New York and Boston. An advance of ten cents over the quo- 
tation for extras or a year round contract price of thirty-five 
cents per dozen, might be considered typical of such arrange- 
ments in New York City. 
Some of the larger chain grocers in New York City are in 
the market for strictly fresh eggs and have even instalied 
buying departments in charge of expert egg men. 
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