HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED 
points on how this loss may be averted will not be out of 
order. 
Numerous efforts have recently been made in western 
states to prevent the sale of bad eggs by law. Minnesota 
began this work by arresting several farmers and dealers. 
The parties invariably pleaded guilty. A number of other 
States followed the example of Minnesota in challenging the 
sale of rotten eggs, but few prosecutions were made. 
Such laws mean well enough, but the only efficient means 
of enforcing them would be to have food inspectors who are 
trained as practical candlers. 
The present usefulness of the laws is in calling the atten- 
tion of the farmer to the mistake that he may be carelessly 
committing, and in placing over him a fear of possible dis- 
grace in case of arrest and prosecution. 
The weakness of the law is the difficulty of its enforcement 
because of the number of violations, and the difficulty of 
drawing distinct lines in regard to which eggs are to be con- 
sidered unlawful. 
Education of the farmer as to the situation is, of course, 
the surest means of perventing the loss, but the education of 
ten millions of farmers is easier to suggest than to execute. 
The most effective plan of education would be the introduction 
of a method of buying eggs similar to the one in vogue 
in Denmark, in which every producer is paid strictly in ac- 
cordance with the quality of his eggs. 
With our complicated system involving five to six dealers 
between the producer and the consumer, such a system is well 
nigh impossible. With the introduction of co-operative buying 
or the community system of production, paying for quality 
becomes entirely possible. 
For enterprising farming communities, the following plans 
offer a cure for the evil of general store buying that take good 
and bad alike and causes the worthy farmer to suffer for the 
carelessness and dishonesty of his neighbor. 
First: The encouragement of the cash buying of produce, 
and, if possible, the candling of all eggs with proper deduc- 
tion for loss. 
Second: The buying of eggs by co-operative creameries. 
The greatest difficulty in this has been the opposition of the 
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