292 
GENERAL MANAGEMENT 
number. Many persons innocently believe, when they see 
a large number of French eggs for a shilling, that the eggs are 
very cheap ; but that is not a just criterion, as the following 
will clearly prove. When an egg-merchant sorts out a chest 
of French eggs, he knows by practice which basket an egg 
belongs to, the instant he takes it in hand. Each egg is 
sorted out according to its size, and when sorted it matters 
not which basket you choose from ; for if you weigh a 
shilling's worth out of each, separately, you will find each 
shilling's worth, as near as may be, the same weight ; that is 
to say, that those at twelve, fourteen, and sixteen a shilling, 
are as heavy as those at eighteen or twenty a shilling. Of 
course eggs are not like cheese or butter, where you can cut 
joff an ounce or so, or stick half an ounce on, to make them 
■exact weight. But take French eggs on the average, and 
you will find them all selling at a trifle over sixpence a 
pound, or two pounds for a shilling. I have frequently 
weighed them myself, and have also had them weighed at 
various times in various shops ; but I have always found 
them varying from sixpence to sixpence halfpenny a pound. 
This is a matter any one can prove for himself. 
Thus we find that stale foreign eggs are sold at sixpence a 
pound, or two pounds for a shilling. Now what can British 
farmers sell their new-laid eggs at ? Can they sell tliem at 
sixpence per pound ? But bear in mind that this is the 
price in the full laying season, not in the fall of the year, or 
in the winter. At those periods, foreign eggs fetch some- 
where about ninepence per pound ; and as for English new- 
laid ones, they will fetch their weight in copper. Still, to 
•calculate with certainty, let us not reckon these extra 
profits, but lump all your eggs together at one price ; and 
let that price be the lowest that foreign eggs are retailed at, 
namely, sixpence per pound. Let us also divide your eggs 
into two sizes, namely, six to the pound, and eight to the 
pound. That would average seven to the pound. But to 
make the matter easily understood, let us set them down 
,at twelve and sixteen for the shilling. 
Now can you sell your new-laid eggs at sixpence per 
pound, or two pounds for a shiUing? Perhaps you have 
never given the matter a calculation ; therefore I will cal- 
xjulate it for you. 
