332 POULTRY CULTURE 



To the producer (and to the consumer also) it often seems that 

 too much of the difference between the first and last selling prices 

 goes to middlemen and transportation companies, but taken by 

 and large the system is adapted to the conditions and is here 

 relatively simple, there more complex, because of the influence of 

 distance and of the facilities for collection, transportation, and 

 distribution on the laws of supply and demand. 



As a rule, the movement of supplies from producer to consumer 

 is as direct as conditions permit, and current prices at any point 

 are based on the cost of the general supply at that point. In a 

 community where a surplus of eggs and poultry is produced, the 

 consumer gets a considerable part, if not all, of the advantage of 

 nearness to sources of large supply. In or near a community which 

 buys most of its poultry products at a distance, the producer should 

 get by far the larger proportion of the last selling price of his product. 

 In either case the situation is exceptional, and the advantage is de- 

 pendent upon that fact. Where the supply of the near-by product 

 is comparatively small, and supplies from a distance are of uncertain 

 quantity, the average quality of the near-by product will be enough 

 better to make it at nearly all times worth more than all but the 

 finest lots of produce from a distance. In addition there is always, 

 in such communities, a proportion of consumers willing to pay a 

 premium for near-by produce of guaranteed quality, and a much 

 smaller proportion that will pay a very large premium for strictly 

 fresh poultry products, especially for eggs direct from the producer. 

 The poultry keeper located where he can get this trade must figure 

 the expense of catering to it, not in comparison with ordinary 

 market prices, but in comparison with the best wholesale prices 

 that he can get for the same class of goods. As a rule, it will be 

 found that the private trade is more profitable only when it is pos- 

 sible to secure customers buying both eggs and poultry regularly 

 in considerable quantities, and that selling to large retail groceries 

 is the most satisfactory way of disposing of choice eggs in large 

 quantities. There are, however, so many places, particularly pleas- 

 ure resorts, where a poultry keeper conveniently located can get 

 extra prices for his produce for a long season each year, that be- 

 fore going to this class of stores he should thoroughly canvass 

 his opportunities for selling direct. 



