416 COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



of decomposition that, unless carted to a crematory or dump- 

 heap, its only use is a manufacturing one, such as tanning leather, 

 and for which eggs are worth about fifty cents a case. 



All Bear the Burden. — While the burden of these losses falls 

 upon all who handle the eggs, they are borne chiefly by the pro- 

 ducers and the consumers. The producers' loss is represehted in 

 a decrease in price because of spoilage or poor quality; the con- 

 sumers' loss is reflected in a decreased supply by reason of the 

 spoilage, which compels the consumer to pay a higher price for 

 the sound portions which finally reach him. 



Investigations. — Exhaustive special inquiries have been con- 

 ducted in different parts of the country for a number of years, 

 both by the Department of Agriculture and other interested 

 bodies, with the view to finding out the exact conditions of eggs 

 in the numerous stages of handling, and to ascertain ways of 

 remedying the defective practices. 



A test was made in an egg-collecting center in the West made 

 up of twenty prominent shippers, wherein it was found that the 

 percentage of eggs that were so bad as to be an absolute loss 

 amounted to 8.33 per cent. This was in November. In other 

 sections during the warmer months as high asthirty per cent of 

 the eggs were totally unfit for food. 



An investigation among some country stores during October, 

 which is considered a fairly favorable month for eggs, showed 

 that only twenty-five per cent of the eggs collected from the ad- 

 jacent farmers would rank as firsts, that sixty per cent were 

 seconds, due to long holding on the farms, that five per cent were 

 cracked, and that four per cent were rotten or stuck to the shell. 

 In this experiment, as with many others, it was found that the 

 majority of the farmers had held their eggs for four and six weeks 

 before turning them into the village store. 



Grades.^For the benefit of those who are not familiar with 

 the different grades of eggs from a commercial standpoint, — and 

 few are, — I want to explain the definitions of these grades as em- 

 ployed by the trade. The term firsts does not mean one hundred 

 per cent strictly fresh eggs, or even good eggs, by any manner 



