THE AMERICAN STANDARD OF PERFECTION 265 



All poultry interests tend to dovetail together. The 

 United States government has put out a special bulletin 

 on marketing farm eggs. At Denver, in August, 1911, 

 it made a direct effort to ally with itself the strength 

 of the American Poultry Association, in proposing, 

 through Mr. Robert R. Slocum (in charge of the 

 United States Government Poultry Plant, Washington, 

 D. C.) a plan of cooperative marketing, to be furthered 

 by the American Poultry Association Branches. 



The plan proposed that, wherever an American 

 Poultry Association member of sufficient business 

 enterprise could be found to start a group, a local 

 group of producers of eggs for market should form 

 a Cooperative Association for selling these eggs. Re- 

 ferring to the stupendous losses through deterioration 

 of eggs, Mr. Slocum said : " The retailer, the shipper, 

 and the buyer do not stand this loss. They simply 

 pass it back by reducing the price olTered for eggs 

 till it rests mainly on the farmer or producer." He 

 also affirmed : " The whole success of the scheme rests 

 on the building up an irreproachable reputation for 

 the eggs." Methods of insuring this appear in the 

 set of rules proffered as a model for trial. The real 

 grip of the situation rests on gaining this reputation 

 and on shortening the time between production and 

 consumption. 



The Rules suggested, under which such groups of 

 producers might work, are based chiefiy on these two 

 demands : irreproachable quality, and quick transit to 

 consumer. They include : daily gathering ; clean, 

 even-sized eggs in clean, uniform cartons ; cool storing, 

 when storage is necessary ; stamping each egg and 



