arrives. He also said that he had placed these eggs mixed ivith 

 hens' eggs, in storage, and that they had stood it very well for 

 6, 7, and 8 months. 



This candid commission merchant told me that he had known 

 duck eggs to go up and up at Easter time till they had on rare oc- 

 casions touched 75 cents a dozen at wholesale; but that after Eas- 

 ter the price usually dropped very rapidly, till about equalling that 

 of hens' eggs. He said also that the grocery stores have a long de- 

 mand for them. He seemed thoroughly optimistic as to working 

 up the trade, provided only that we have the supply, saying that 

 no one knew what could be done till trial was made. He also 

 stated his belief, strongly, that it would be impossible to "swamp" 

 New York market with these eggs, saying that as soon as there 

 was danger of this, the eggs would go into cold storage for use 

 when the market really needed them. Thus, it seems that storage 

 is to be one of the important factors in the outworking of the 

 Runner market egg situation. Another point that needs em- 

 phasis is that Runner eggs should be shipped direct to commis- 

 sion merchants in the cities where they are to be sold, in order 

 that they shall reach the market while still fresh. Nor should 

 one send stuflf to an unknown market. Commission men desire 

 most, regular shipments ; for it is the unknown and the unex- 

 pected which play havoc with the markets. The less they get, 

 the less their commission, and they are glad to advise as to qual- 

 ities and best times of shipment. 



Where either eggs or meat are produced in small quantities, I 

 think it is far better to work up a private trade. The ducks sell 

 to private custom "like hot cakes", and make a demand for more, 

 because of their delicious quality. One dealer explained the 

 scarcity of Runner eggs in New York market by saying that 

 they were probably used largely in private trade. This is well 

 known to be largely true of new-laid hens' eggs, during the win- 

 ter season — so much so that eggs are rated for quality in the 



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