Marketing of Eggs. 



i55 



tural Organisation Society has regularly employed a Danish 

 expert to teach the system, and Irish eggs are being for- 

 warded to market properly graded. So long as eggs are not 

 retailed by weight — a method which would be beneficial 

 to all concerned if it were introduced — the retailer is pro- 

 tected by grading, in that he knows that all the eggs in a 

 case will be equal in size, and he can, therefore, pay a fair 

 price for them. Under the present method he must make allow- 

 ance for a proportion, often a large one, of " smalls." 

 Hens cannot lay eggs to one pattern, nor will these all 

 be large, and in practice it is found that no more is paid 

 for big than for little eggs. But producers will find that it 

 is to their advantage to have eggs as near the same size as 

 may be possible. A basket in which eggs are of the same 

 size looks better than when they are uneven. Very large 

 eggs should be retained, for they make others look smaller 

 than they really are ; and small eggs depreciate the total 

 value to the buyer, who will assuredly imagine there are more 

 of them than is really the case. Grading may be accom- 

 plished by using a board perforated with three or four holes 

 of different sizes for eggs weighing if oz., 2 oz., 2 J oz., and 

 i\oz. respectively, and passing the eggs through the hole 

 which is nearest in size. In the Danish packing establish- 

 ments grading is done by eye and hand. So skilful are the 

 operators that they are seldom more than a couple of ounces 

 out in a long hundred. This, however, is only possible 

 w T here large quantities are handled. 



It is noteworthy that an egg with a tinted shell will, on 

 most markets, command a higher price than one with a 

 white shell when equal in size. 



Packing. — The long case used for foreign eggs and now 

 coming into vogue for Irish is most suitable where long 

 distances are to be covered and the boxes cannot be returned. 

 But in this country other forms are to be preferred, as they 

 can be returned at a much smaller cost than providing new 

 cases. Moreover, the packing and unpacking is simpler, and 

 it is not absolutely necessary that the box should be filled when 

 the supply falls below the average. They carry the eggs more 

 safely, and in the best cases now sold breakages in transit are 

 practically unknown. Should an egg be broken, the felt or 



