38 BULLETIN 1385, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Any unfit for food are thrown out and a heavy penalty therefor de- 
ducted from the returns to the producer whose number appears on 
the eggs so discarded, but there is not the same closeness of^grading 
for interior quality and cleanliness as is prevalent among egg coop- 
eratives in the United States. More or less badly shrunken eggs, 
eggs with weak yolks and weak whites, and eggs with comparatively 
dirty shells may be included in the export grades provided they have 
good weight. 
The collectors of private dealers operating in competition with the 
cooperative societies which purchase by weight also buy eggs at so 
much per kilogram, but no deductions are made for spoiled eggs. 
The loss thus incurred is borne by the dealer. The percentage of bad 
eggs in Europe is probably far less than in the United States, be- 
cause the summer temperatures are not sufficient to cause germinal 
development and consequent spoilage. 
Producers receive the highest price for eggs in those localities 
which are nearest the markets or wherein the cooperative methods 
of buying are most widely practiced — Denmark and the Netherlands. 
The expansion of cooperation now taking place in Poland will prob- 
ably result in increased production, improvement of quality, quicker 
marketing, and consequent increased returns to the producers in that 
country. 
PAYMENTS TO PRODUCERS 
Producers are paid for their eggs in cash by the huckster or 
dealers, in trade by stores, or when they are sold cooperatively the 
producer may receive an advance on his eggs at the time of delivery, 
with dividends at the end of the year, or he may wait for payment 
until the eggs are sold and returns received. These methods of pay- 
ment are analogous to those in the United States. 
It is useless to give details of prices paid to the producer in various 
countries, because they not only vary from time to time throughout 
the year, but they also vary with the fluctuating rates of exchange, 
distances from market, different systems of buying, and gradations in 
quality. The lowest prices paid are in Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugo- 
slavia, Hungary, and probably Russia. This is because the eggs in 
these countries are generally poorer in quality, smaller in size, at 
greater distances from the market, less efficiently marketed, and are 
produced under more adverse climatic conditions than in north- 
western Europe. 
PURCHASE OF EGGS BY WEIGHT 
In view of the agitation in the United States, both by producers 
and consumers, for the purchase and sale of eggs by weight, the re- 
sults obtained in Denmark, where eggs have been purchased from the 
producers by weight for several years, are here considered. 
In this little country, whose egg exports have furnished from 20 
to 50 per cent of the total egg imports into Great Britain, the pur- 
chase of eggs by weight was originally established by the cooperative 
egg-marketing associations, which have been in existence since 1895. 
These associations require that the eggs be fresh, gathered frequently, 
and marketed within seven days from the date of laying, thus cover- 
ing the prerequisities necessary to the marketing of an egg of good 
interior quality. 
