188 POULTRIY-CRAFT. 
poultry keepers, farmers especially, who could ship one or more cases of eggs 
weekly, and would like to send them to one of the larger markets, and get a 
little better price than they can from local buyers, if they could sell through 
a reliable commission house. Small shippers, who cannot make personal 
investigation of the standing of the parties to whom they consign goods, are 
inclined to be shy of commission merchants; and not without reason, for they 
and their neighbors have lost again and again through commission merchants 
of the here today and there tomorrow variety, who offer them big inducements 
to ship goods, and then fail to make returns on shipments received; but 
there are plenty of reliable commission merchants, and in all the large cities 
there are firms well known by reputation to all readers of poultry papers, to 
which the small shipper may send his goods with full confidence that he will 
be treated fairly, and receive every cent due him. Nearly always the large 
houses are glad to get even small shipments of first class stock, if they are 
sent regularly — irregular consignments they do not care so much about. In 
establishing relations with such houses, the best method is to send a sample 
shipment, at the same time stating the quantity that could be shipped 
regularly. The best time to begin doing business with these firms is when 
eggs are not very plentiful. Having eggs to ship when eggs are scarce is, in 
the eyes of the commission man, one of the best recommendations the shipper 
can have. He feels from the first that this man is to be depended on for 
regular shipments ; while he is always uncertain about those who are ready to 
begin when eggs are plenty, for his experience has been that in a very short 
time most of them fail him. 
275. When to Sell Poultry.—In producing poultry specially for 
market, one ought to aim to have as much as possible of the product market- 
able when prices are best, and to have everything sold before prices reach a 
point too low for profit. There is some demand for poultry throughout the 
year; but the demand for chéckens is so much lighter between August and 
February than during the remainder of the year, that the producer’s profit, 
on stuff sold in the fall and early winter, (except on extra choice stock), is 
small. 
The érozler season is from February to September, prices being good 
throughout that period, and at their best in April and May. Many of the 
broilers shipped in September, October, and November, are put in cold stor- 
age and held until the beginning of the next season. The market for roasters 
is most active throughout December, January, and February ; but better prices 
are obtained in May, June, and July, when, though the demand is more 
limited, the supply is much more limited. Capons are in demand from 
December to May, inclusive, and bring best prices at the close of the season. 
The egg farmer marketing his cockerels and cull pullets, and the breeder 
of pure-bred poultry disposing of his culls, can hardly —if their chicks are 
seasonably hatched for their purfoses— get the top prices for much of what 
