374 



THE IMPORT TRADE IN EGGS. 



[March 1897. 



without the intervention of middlemen. This society was 

 established at Vejle in Jutland in February 1895, and all its 

 members are producers. Its object is stated io be the improve- 

 ment of the Danish export trade in eggs, and to obtain better 

 prices for these products. When it first started the association 

 had only 24 district branches and less than 2,000 members, 

 but in April last there were over 14,000 members enrolled in 

 200 branches situated in all parts of Denmark. Eggs collected 

 by the local branches are forwarded to a central depot, where 

 they are sorted and packed and at once shipped to this country. 

 In order to keep some control over the quality of the goods 

 delivered, eggs arriving from the district branches are stamped 

 with the number of the branch as well as with the number of 

 the member who supplied them, and the branches are expected 

 to make deliveries to the central depot within a few days of the 

 receipt of supplies from their members. 



The position of the egg trade of Belgium has already been 

 noticed in an earlier number of this Journal,* and it need only 

 be observed here that the production of eggs in that country is 

 not sufficient to meet the home demand. There is, however, 

 a considerable export trade in eggs consisting mainly of Aus- 

 tro-Hungarian and Italian products in transit to the United 

 Kingdom. 



In Germany also the annual production of eggs falls consider- 

 ably short of the quantity required for the home consumption, 

 and consequently large quantities are imported, mainly from 

 Russia and Austria- Hungary. It has been estimated that the 

 quantity of foreign eggs consumed annually in Germany amounts 

 at the present time to 33 per head of the population. 



Among the remaining countries which export eggs to the 

 United Kingdom, Canada, and Morocco are deserving of some 

 attention, for although supplies from these sources are as yet 

 comparatively inconsiderable, they have recently exhibited signs 

 of development. In the former country great efforts are being 

 made to stimulate the industry of poultry rearing with a view 

 to the promotion of the export trade. According to the census 

 returns the value of the stock of hens and chickens in Canada 

 was estimated, in 1891, at about 2,500,000£. Although the 

 Canadian producers of poultry and eggs still find their chief 

 market in the Dominion, there is an increasing export trade 

 in eggs to the United Kingdom. Formerly the United States 

 was practically the sole foreign purchaser of Canadian eggs, 

 but since the introduction of the McKinley Tariff the trade 

 has been largely diverted to the United Kingdom. From 

 1883 to 1890, the exports from Canada to her southern 

 neighbour ranged annually from 170 to 180 millions. In 1891, 

 however, they declined by 50 per cent, and have amounted only 

 to about 25 millions annually during the past three years. 

 Finding the market in the United States restricted by the high 



* Vol. Ii"., No. 4, p. 408. 



