HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED 
without a definite understanding, will always be, as it always 
has been, a source of dissatisfaction and logs. There is a 
great opportunity here for the man who can organize a sys- 
tem that shall do away with commission houses, other inter- 
mediate steps, and form the single step from producer to con- 
sumer. Some people say that farmers cannot be dealt with 
in this manner. Such people would probably have said as 
much about general merchandising before the days of the mail 
order houses. 
It is all a matter of efficient organization. A system of 
business fitted to deal in carload lots will, of course, fail when 
dealing with half cases. It is more difficult to deal in little 
things than in big ones because the margin is closer, but it 
can and will be done. 
The Price of Eggs. 
We will consider the price of all eggs from the quotation of 
Western firsts in the New York market. The reason for this 
is evident. Every egg raised east of Colorado is in line for 
shipment to New York. If other towns get eggs they must 
pay sufficiently to keep them from going to New York. 
In pricing eggs we have first to consider the price of West- 
ern firsts in New York and secondly the quality relation of 
the particular grade to Western firsts and the consequent 
relation in price. 
The price of eggs varies with the price of other commodi- 
ties as the periods of prosperity and adversity follow one 
another through the years. 
As is well known, all prices in the ’90’s passed through a 
period of depression. For eggs this reached a base in 1897. 
Since then there has been a gradual climb till this realized a 
high point in 1904, remained high till 1907. In the spring of 
1908 egg prices dropped again, but the fall prices of 1908 were 
exceptionally high. As this work goes to press (May, 1909) 
eggs are going into storage at the highest May price on 
record. 
The prices of eggs also vary independently of other com- 
modities because of a gradual changing relation between 
production and consumption. As stated in the first chapter 
the prices of poultry products have shown a general rise when 
compared with other articles. This has been most marked 
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