1014. 
THIS RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
867 
Business For Women jj 
Making Use of Parcel Post 
Shipping Eggs by Parcel Post. 
I READ with interest the article on 
parcel post, on page 636, and like¬ 
wise the letter of Mrs. P. T. R. on page 
764. in which she tells of her trouble in 
Markets in Suburban Towns. 
OOD markets for parcel post trade 
for farm women that I have not 
heard mentioned, or rather I should say 
emphasized, are the suburbs of large 
cities. The conditions are radically dif¬ 
ferent in regard to foodstuffs than what 
it is in the city proper in most cases. 
Very often there are only one or two 
grocers, sometimes only one butcher, and 
no bakery; consequently the prices of 
everything are higher than in the city 
where the same class of people live. The 
reasons for this are two; first they have 
extra cartage to pay, and secondly, as 
there is practically no competition, they 
put the prices of everything away up, 
and of course the people have to pay. 
Now if the farm women will raise more 
chickens and eggs it seems to me they 
could develop a fine trade, not only in 
chickens raw, but cooked chicken ready 
to be used for salad, sandwiches, etc. 
Then, outside of sending eggs in their 
natural state, there are certain kinds of 
cake and puddings and pastry that would 
stand shipment well. For instance, lady 
fingers, pound cake, molasses and spice 
cakes, etc., in fact any cakes that did 
not have a soft icing. And anyone who 
had butternuts or walnuts could make 
those delicious nut loaf cakes that every¬ 
one loves. Then there are several kinds 
of pastry and puddings for which I will 
gladly send the recipes on request. 
Perhaps at first until a trade was es¬ 
tablished the grocer in the place could 
be asked to handle the goods, but in 
every case I would have the cakes 
wrapped in paraffin paper. Then in each 
package I would place a postal card 
(without the stamp) printed with the 
prices and names of things you have for 
sale, leaving space for the customer to 
indicate what articles they wanted to 
order. In a short time a direct trade 
could be established. Of course the qual¬ 
ity of everything would have to be first- 
class and the prices reasonable. It would 
be better to have certain days for cer¬ 
tain things, and sufficient variety from 
week to week, so that people would not 
get tired of the things. Here would be 
a good chance for farm and village wom¬ 
en to cooperate—each taking the thing 
to make that they could do best, for very 
often a good pastry maker is not a good 
cake maker. Also one person would not 
be able to handle a trade like this after 
it was once started. 
MRS. FLORENCE BELLE. 
Mailing Packages for Eggs. 
T HE Department of Agriculture has 
issued Farmers’ Bulletin No. 594 
on shipping eggs by parcel post. This 
gives a full discussion of this interesting 
problem, takes up the care of the egg 
from the hen, tells how to use water 
glass, and other methods of preserving 
eggs, and then gives very full directions 
for shipping eggs and particularly hand¬ 
ling them by parcel post. The arrange¬ 
ment of zones is given and full directions 
for handling, shipping and selling. It 
appears that in order to test the matter, 
Package For 10 Dozen Eggs. 
9,131 eggs were sent through the mail in 
4(36 shipments. The total breakage was 
327 eggs, of which only 209 were so 
badly broken that they were beyond use. 
Of these 91 eggs were broken because the 
parcel was not properly handled. This 
shows the small loss resulting when eggs 
are properly handled and properly packed. 
Of course eggs with thin shells and out 
of the proper shape should not be used. 
Each egg is wrapped in sufficient paper 
to hold it tight in its own compartment 
and the package must be securely and 
strongly packed and tight. The depart¬ 
ment gives pictures of two containers 
which have operated well. Cut below 
shows the size which carried ten dozen, 
the eggs being placed in four layers of 30 
each. Cut at right shows a compartment 
made of fibre board fitted with corrugated 
pasteboard lining and fillers. This size 
holds 15 eggs and has carried its con¬ 
tents securely. Anyone interested in the 
shipment of eggs by parcel post should 
by all means obtain this pamphlet and 
make a thorough study of it. Most peo¬ 
ple who report to us state that their first 
shipments were not very satisfactory as 
many were broken. In most cases where 
they continued to handle the eggs in this 
way and to study out the matter care¬ 
fully, they have been able to improve 
greatly and most of them who studied up 
the proposition are now using the sys¬ 
tem with profit. 
Rompers by Parcels Post. 
WOULD like to suggest to Mrs. E. S., 
page 637, that perhaps she could make 
money by taking orders for and making 
rompers for children from two to six 
years of age, according to the pattern 
shown in your issue of May 2, page 674. 
If she lives near a village or town per¬ 
haps she could get enough local orders to 
keep her busy. If not, a little advertis¬ 
ing in The R. N.-Y. and parcel post 
would solve the market problem. I would 
suggest that the rompers be made of dark 
blue and white ripplette (seersucker) as 
these would be easy to wash and require 
no ironing. If so requested the small 
size could be made to open at the bottom 
seam (inside from knee to knee) using 
buttons the same as on the back of the 
romper. I feel sure a good many moth¬ 
ers with young children would gladly buy 
these rompers, as they mean a great 
saving in the amount of washing neces¬ 
sary, because they protect the under¬ 
wear and keep it clean. Some very well- 
to-do people I know keep their children 
in rompers all the time until they are 
five or six years old, having one or two 
of the white ripplette when they want 
them to look a little better than usual 
and generally one pique or heavy linen 
for very best. For Winter use they 
could be made of gray or blue Scotch 
flannel. The ripplette could be purchased 
by the piece, which would give a large 
profit. In soliciting orders I would sug¬ 
gest that the chest measure, also length 
of arm and length from base of neck 
to knee be asked for, as well as age of 
child, because there is quite a difference 
in patterns, and of course the mothers 
would not want to alter the rompers after 
they got them. mbs. f. b. t. 
shipping eggs by parcel post. In the in¬ 
terest of people who hope to get more 
than a 35-cent dollar through the medium 
of the parcel post, I would like to con¬ 
tribute my experience and a few thoughts 
on the subject. 
I have been shipping eggs by parcel 
post to private customers since last No¬ 
vember, during which time I had one egg 
broken, and which was my own fault. 
I get my customers by advertising in the 
Sunday papers. I am now getting 35 
cents a dozen net for the eggs I ship, the 
customer paying the postage and car¬ 
tons. In other words I get 41 cents a 
dozen for eggs shipped, six cents of which 
is for postage. T1 : rty-five cents a dozen 
is the lowest price I have reached this 
Summer. I felt sorry for Mrs. P. T. R., 
who seems to have had hard luck in her 
efforts to market her eggs by parcel post. 
If she be a woman who knows how to be 
particular she should start right over 
again, and be determined to make a suc¬ 
cess of it. This can be done, and pos¬ 
sibly to a better advantage to herself 
than in my case. Where I live I can 
sell my eggs for a good price at the door, 
which possibly she cannot. 
Now for a few pointed thoughts. It is 
useless in my opinion to try to ship eggs 
by parcel post unless the person making 
the shippings is particular in small 
things. There is a way to pack, and a 
time to ship, and unless these precautions 
are observed failure is sure to follow^. I 
do not know whether all cartons are 
properly made to carry eggs. The kind 
I use are of double corrugated paper, and 
the boxes so made that there are two 
thicknesses of corrugated board on each 
side of the box. Inside are the usual 
compartments for each egg, made of the 
same material. 
The secret of success lies in the wrap¬ 
ping of the egg, before being placed in 
the box. My method is to wrap each 
egg in soft tissue paper, cut to a proper 
size, and then wrap it again in soft 
brown paper, so as to fill the compart¬ 
ment, and not permit it to shake. Care 
should be taken to have the tissue paper 
cut so that it can be wrapped loose¬ 
ly around the sides of the egg, several 
wraps if possible, and then fold in the 
paper at the ends. The object sought is 
to form as much cushion over the sides 
of the egg, but be sure that no lumps or 
knots of paper are formed against the 
sides of the egg, which are likely to cause 
them to break. It is the side of the 
egg that must be protected, rather than 
the ends. The object of using heavy brown 
paper is to form additional cushion. The 
tissue paper is used first for sanitary 
reasons, preserving the egg and keeping 
it nice and clean. It is not sufficient to 
guarantee carrying without breakage. 
Paper is not all alike in its properties. 
A harsh brown paper does not make a 
good cushion for the egg to rest in. Use 
a soft paper, and wrap it loosely, and 
the egg will withstand the ordinary jar¬ 
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II Management of Work and Children || 
A S a question for discussion next month we may take the following 
letter. This will appeal to many a mother who finds it hard to get 
time for anything outside of housework : 
The Woman and Home Department is fine. You ask us to tell you 
what we would like to see discussed in this department. Will not the 
mothers who have families of little ones, not one or two, but like myself, 
four or five, write and tell us how' they manage their work or what sys¬ 
tem they use to get it done, as mine seems never done? I am sure it 
would help many farm mothers, beside myself, who are trying to do their 
work, take care of the children and help in the garden and poultry yard. 
§! New York. mbs. w. b. 1| 
Principles of Home Management 
Just now the farm thinkers and instructors are talking most about 
“efficiency” and “farm management.” Some excellent advice is given, but 
mostly by people who are not obliged to practice their own preaching in 
order to make a living. Management of the home is just as important 
as that of the farm. We prefer advice and experience from women who 
day by day face the conditions suggested by Mrs. W. B. in the above let¬ 
ter. The farm mother who can keep her home, care for a family of 
children and save a little time for herself is a manager of high skill, and 
we want to know how she does it. 
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ring it receives in transit. The eggs, of 
course, are placed in the box on ends. 
Eggs packed in this manner can go any¬ 
where. I have taken a box of eggs and 
thrown them across the room to test out 
and failed to break any. I tried to 
pack them wrapped in tissue paper only, 
but stopped that practice when I found 
that an egg was broken in the secon l 
Mailing Package For 15 Eggs. 
lot sent out under such methods of pack¬ 
ing. I have sent them from Philadelphia 
to Charlotte, N. C., and to Atlanta, Ga. f 
all of which reached the destination 
safely. I shipped to my customers during 
the holiday rush and during the blizzard 
weather last Winter, and never lost an 
egg. 
I ship Mondays and Thursdays, which 
gives deliveries in good time. Shipments 
collected Friday afternoon cannot be ex¬ 
pected to reach the customer in the dis¬ 
tant city until the following Monday. 
They should be started Thursday morn¬ 
ing to make sure delivery. I have a 
record of all my shipments, having start¬ 
ed the parcel post delivery method with a 
view of making the experiment. I ex¬ 
pect to increase my egg output this Fall, 
and will follow the idea of advertising 
for parcel post customers. I am not in¬ 
terested in reducing the high cost of liv¬ 
ing. and do not believe that the parcel 
post is a factor in that direction, at 
least so far as eggs are concerned. It is 
a factor, however, to the city people in 
the reduction of the cost of high living. 
Anyone who has a poultry plant situated 
as the one described by Mrs. P. T. R.. if 
they use good judgment, and care in 
packing, can beat the 35-cent dollar to 
a standstill. Such has been my experi¬ 
ence from the seven months’ trial of ship¬ 
ping eggs by parcel post. E. H. r. 
P EOPLE who are interested in chil¬ 
dren’s industrial contests should read 
The Extension, published at the North 
Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, N. 
D. No. 6 of this publication is called 
the “Industrial Extension Number,” and 
contains rules for conducting contests 
with score cards, etc. 
“Are your friend’s habits abstemious?” 
“Oh. no, sir, not a bit of it! He never 
takes a drop.”—Baltimore American. 
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|| .*. The Patent Churn || 
( Continued, from, page S59.) 
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to the relief of the agent at the churn. 
No sooner were they out of sight than 
off came the churn lid and an inquiring 
finger plunged inside. Lifting his drip¬ 
ping finger to his lips the agent tasted, 
his face reddened and he gave the churn 
a vicious kick sending its contents splat¬ 
tering. Ten minutes the company ling¬ 
ered at the flower bed. Suddenly a rig 
passed the house going toward town at 
a lively clip. 
“Hey, what’s yer hurry.” hailed the 
man who had addressed the agent lie- 
fore. But the agent did not answer. 
Instead he urged the horse to a faster 
pace and the assembled neighbors caught 
sight of the patent churn dancing a mad 
jig behind the high seat and a moment 
later all was hidden by an enveloping 
dust cloud. 
“Oh. Mrs. Hays, that scamp has run 
off with your butter,” exclaimed one of 
the ladies as they turned the corner of 
the house. At this the neighbor who 
had bailed the agent laughed uproar¬ 
iously. 
“Oh no he didn’t,” laughed Mrs. Hays, 
“I churned this morning; the butter’s 
down cellar; he was churning on butter¬ 
milk.” 
