132 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 



This is represented by the profit he might have made from 

 the additional pullets he could have raised. 



A retail merchant counts his time, interest on invest- 

 ment, wear and tear on delivery equipment, and similar 

 charges as part of the cost of the article he handles. The 

 average farmer, on the contrary, counts none of these 

 when estimating the additional profit he made by re- 

 taiHng. But the fact that he does not count them cuts no 

 figure — the cost is there just the same. 



The view expressed, summed up, is that the egg farm- 

 er should make his entire profit in the production of the 

 egg. If there is no profit, or too small a profit, in the pro- 

 duction end of the business he had better retire from it. 



Co-operative marketing of the product of egg farms has 

 come to be much in vogue in California. Where the pro- 

 duction is limited, and especially where a number of egg 

 farms are located within reasonable distance of each 

 other, the plan has much in its favor. The all-important 

 question is, what does it cost to handle the business? 

 Perhaps equally important is the question of how far 

 should the operation be carried? When co-operative 

 associations enter the field of retailing and cold-storage 

 they are reaching the zone of thin ice from the writer's 

 point of view. Insofar as they may be used in establish- 

 ing and maintaining a fair price for the product, the cosi; 

 of which they should have no difficulty in determining, 

 they are clearly within their proper field. 



The subject is a large one, however, and what has been 

 said merely touches the surface. Those who are consider- 

 ing that form of marketing their product may well give 

 thought to these general suggestions. 



