424 
IShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 17, 1017 
Shipping Eggs by Parcel Post 
Many Successful Shipments 
As a i-eceiver of parcel post egg ship- 
meuts I wish to give my experience, as 
.\oii request readers to do. From my 
Mnnoiwille, Long Islandffarm I send three 
two-dozen boxes weekly. For several 
years I have been receiving more or less 
eggs by mail. I cannot recall that there 
has ever been a single ca.se of breakage. 
1 use what I believe to be the best mail¬ 
ing box in the market, and I have quite 
lost track of the number of times the 
same boxes have been used for I'eship- 
nients. Express expeidence was very dis¬ 
astrous to the eggs. M’M. MAOiKTil. 
llrooklyn, X. Y. 
Satisfied With Parcel Post 
1 have shipped all Winter in two-dozen 
size j)ai»er boxes, made with corrugated 
I»aper to wraj) each egg. These are placed 
in a frame made of double paper, two 
layers with double paper between, all en- 
<-losed in a double-thick box. These 
boxes cost me 11c each and some have 
made 10 trips, and are apparently good 
for as many more. I have not had a 
complaint of broken eggs and only one 
box has had a spot showing an egg broken 
and that was only in one corner, so I 
have had but one broken egg that I know’ 
of. I ship to Springfield, 30 miles; they 
go out over R. F. D. route. All praise to 
jiarcel post, but we need much more in 
size of package allowed and reduc*‘d cost 
of j)ostage. I get better sei’vice fj-om par- 
«-el post than from express, yet 1 find ex¬ 
press service is quite satisfactory where 
crate Shipments are made or for setting 
eggs, in 300 or. larger lots. We use much 
the same box for .setting eggs as for mar¬ 
ket eggs, and never had but one lot re- 
))ort<‘d as badly handled. F. E. parsons. 
MassBiehusetts. 
No Trouble Here 
We have sent eggs by this method con¬ 
tinually ever since the government gave 
us the privilege, and we also use i)arcel 
j)ost succe.ssfully, shipping dressed poul¬ 
try. While our egg shipments at present 
by parcel po.st do not exceed 800 dozen a 
year, still they are shipped from three 
nearby post offices or given to our rural 
carrier, as happens to be convenient, and 
we have had -itractically no loss, ('er- 
tainly one dollar would cover all our 
losses in past year, although we a.ssumc 
all risk and ship to customers in New 
York City, Brooklyn and Newark. X. .T.; 
occasionally to other points. AVe ship 
usually in four-dozen cartons, corrugated 
cardboard box, fillers, and flats. This is 
the most simple, .serviceable box I have 
seen, and costs about 30 cents each (dif- 
f(')'ent concerns seem to charge difl’erent 
jirices for same box). Each egg is 
wi-apped in a square of newspaper, 7i^x9 
inches before placing in filler. AVhen 
carton is filled, it is wrapped in a good 
grade of wrai)ping paper. I never use 
labels stating box contains eggs, but in¬ 
stead, take a large blue pencil and write 
the words “Fresh Eggs” across top and 
sides of package, and my personal opinion 
is that this metho<l has considerable to do 
with the safe arrival of our goods. A 
postal employe cannot apj)roach a package 
marked thus w’ithout reading “Fresh 
Eggs,” even if he should try. AVe usual¬ 
ly ship lots larger than four dozen by ex- 
jiress, never have w’e shipi)ed moi-e than 
six dozen by parcel post in single package. 
Our greatest difficulty is not bad handling 
by i)ostal men, but to find customers. 
After we have mailed them one box we 
liirely lose them. ii. .s. riede. 
Orange Co., X. Y. 
For two years now’ I have been sf'lling 
eggs in this way, sending most of thgin to 
the great city eighty miles away, in one, 
two, three and four-dozen boxes . All but 
the one-dozen boxes go very w'ell—occa¬ 
sionally there is an egg broken, which 1 
can see for myself, as the boxes knock 
down easily and ai’c in most cases re¬ 
turned to me. 
In the tw’o years one two-dozen box 
was lost, and I was unable to trace it or 
recover the value. A short time ago a 
one-dozen box w’as delivered to the con¬ 
sumer with every egg except two either 
broken or cracked. I. resolved never 
again to ship in such small quantities. 
altlKMigh I supplied five .such customers 
all last year, but upon so informing the 
only one I carry this year I w’as told that 
only once had any of her eggs been 
broken, and she was willing to take the 
risk. 
There is a difl'creiu’e of from l.o to 20 
(,*ents between the price I get for my eggs 
in the city and the Icx’al price, but the 
postage and container cost me from >eight 
to 30 cents per dozen. It would scarcely 
))ay me to .ship them at the price I do, 
which is the price of best eggs at the re¬ 
liable city grocers; if the boxes w’ere not 
returned to me so that I can use them 
three or four times. AA’ith the general 
upw’ard movement of paper their cost has 
risen, so that they are now rather expen¬ 
sive. 
I sell, of course, day-old eggs, and my 
<’ust<)mers express themselves as greatly 
pleased. I do feel swuisilive when I note 
i)y the retui’iied box that an egg has been 
broken, but it is seldom that a customer 
<-omplains. 'The eggs are most carefully 
packed and it seems unnecessary for even 
one to be broken, but it is evident that 
oftentimes the carrier is careless. I sel¬ 
dom ship over .30 dozen a week in this 
w’ay. K. E. CI.EM. 
Connecticut. 
A Success in West Virginia 
I have not had any trouble along the 
parcel post line of egg or butter ship¬ 
ments. 1 am now shipping eggs to Elkins, 
AA’^. A’^a., 300 miles or more, in five-dozen 
parcel post boxes, corrugated paper guar- 
ant(’ed to stand a pressure of HOO pounds. 
(’ost of shipping is 14c on the box, 5c for 
return of same. My boxes come in fine 
condition ; can make eight to 10 shipments 
in same box. 1 have had no breakage 
w’hatever. I also two years ago shipped 
eggs for hatching to Charleston, W. Va., 
betw’cen l!(K) and .300 miles. Eggs hatched 
W’ell, and none w’as broken; also butter 
packages have gone through in fine shape. 
So far I have no complaint, only hope it 
will reach the 100-pound mark. G. L. c. 
Hillsboro, AA^ A"a. 
Uncle Sam Does His Share 
I am only a small producer, and do not 
send many eggs, but since .January, 1910, 
have been supitlying a customer in 
Albany, 56 miles from here, making week¬ 
ly shipments, and during this time have 
had only screw eggs broken, hardly as 
many as a farmer w'ould expect to have 
broken in a year’s time w’hen taking his 
eggs to market in a w'agou. 
To begin with, I see to the matter of 
feeding my hens plenty of lime and oyster 
shells, so that 1 may be sure of having a 
good strong shell on the eggs; then 1 ex¬ 
ercise a little care to select eggs that are 
good shape for packing, and last of all I 
jiack them carefully. I use a standard 
make of parcel post box, and see that the 
box and inner cartons are put together 
])r()perly, and then wrap the package w’ith 
strong paper, and tie it securely. I use 
tw’o-dozen size boxes and usually wrap 
two of them together in one package, 
making a pai’cnd w’eighing about nine 
j)ounds, W’ith a cost for postage of 13 
cents. My patrons return the boxes,, 
usually four or six at a time, at an aver¬ 
age cost of two cents per box, and I have 
us(*d the same box over as many as 30 
times, .simply initting in new cartons oc¬ 
casionally, which cost a matter of one 
cent each. 
Besides the eggs shii>ped to Albany, I 
have packed a number of boxes to be 
shipped to New Y’^ork, a distance of from 
3.50 to 200 miles, and points out on Long 
Island, and almost invariably they have 
reached their destination in good condi¬ 
tion. A friend ttf mine shii)ped six dozen 
by express, to a person on Long Island, 
and had more than a dozen broken when 
they W’ere delivered. I'lie next week he 
shipped the same number by parcel post, 
and they were in perfect condition when 
delivered. 
I have never lost a parcel intrusted to 
the U. 8. mails, and it hardly seems cred¬ 
ible when we read of eggs and chickens 
being stolen from the mails, but I have 
known instances when parcels have been 
all but lost through being improperly ad¬ 
dressed. or having the address written 
only on a tag, w’hich is liable to be torn 
off and lost, instead of having it written 
on the par<‘<‘l itself. My experience with 
the parcel post has led me to firmly be¬ 
lieve that if the j)atron, himself, will do 
his part by seeing that his parcel is prop¬ 
erly packed and wrapj)ed, and plainly 
addressed, Uncle 8am will see that it 
reaches its destination ,and that for a 
very rea.souable charge. The Post Office 
Department is making all effort to bring 
the. producer and consumer in closer 
touch with each other and to encourage 
the marketing direid of farm products, 
such as eggs, butter, vegetables, maple 
sugar, etc. o. w. }r. 
AA'arreu ('o., X. A'. 
Good Results in Large Packages 
I have used parcel jjost from the be¬ 
ginning; bad results at first, probably in 
part on account of bad packing, and the 
distributors not having been sufficiently 
cautioned. I have found that small 
packages of two dozen eggs fared worse 
than larger ones. This is easily account¬ 
ed for; the disti’ibutor could toss one of 
these half aci-oss the room, and it might 
hit the bin, <»r the floor. The luck was 
so bad with these that I do not ship 
less than five dozen. In one town in 
this county, there are generally one to 
three broken. On the other hand, my 
first customer was in Brooklyn, and 
there has never be.eu a complaint since 
the first tw’o shipments. There is no 
.excuse for any breakage if properly han- 
<!led. 1 had a sleigh load tip over into 
the snow’bank. T'he hor.se ran away with 
the sleigh on the side, empty except for 
one five-dozen package under the seat. 
The horse circled around the field, 
jumped over a low stone wall, and ran 
about a mile through the woods before 
we caught him. I expected to find the 
eggs ready for a big omelet, but to my 
disappointment upon unpacking the box, 
there w’as not one cracked egg. 
FRANK HYDE. 
AVestchester Co., X. Y. 
AA^e ship about 40 dozen a w’eek to 
New Y'ork City, a distance of 150 miles, 
and others to farther points. AA'^e have 
been at it for four years and breakage 
is slight, in fact need not be reckoned on 
at all. Very likely we do not average 
six broken eggs per month. AA'e ship in 
good three-i)iece corrugated pasteboard 
boxes, two, four and six dozen sizes. 
AVe think the larger sizes have less 
breakage than the small one.s. AA^e do 
not insure and have had but one lost 
shipment. Each egg is rolled in a piece 
of tissue paper about 9x12 inches. These 
boxes w’ill make several trips and w’e 
insist that all packing be returned. AA'e 
find that a cent a dozen covers cost of 
boxes, paper, etc. Customers return 
boxes in lots of four or six. All eegs 
should be candled; this will enable one 
to detect the defective shells. 
Otsego Co., X. Y. j. c. wickman. 
I ship a con.siderable quantity of eggs 
by parcel post to a select city trade. 
The l*ost Office Department does not 
handle this branch in a business way. 
The breakage is excessive and when a 
package is lost in transit the shipper ha.s 
no redress. The insuring of a package 
is useless as far as breakage is concerned. 
You cannot expect your customers to 
go to the post office and make out a 
statement .something like their last will 
and te.stament. ^biE B. N.-Y. can do an 
immense amount*of good to the shippers 
if the editor will detail some one to fol¬ 
low a parcel post delivery wagon through 
the streets of New A'ork and .see the wmy 
eggs are handled. I have seen them my¬ 
self ; otherwise I wotild not have be¬ 
lieved it. W’M. P. MORRIS. 
Ix)ng Island. 
I use a two-dozen paper container 
about 10x12x4 all on same plane (not 
double decker), eggs sep^ijrated by cor¬ 
rugated paper. Under eggs we put a lay¬ 
er of granulated cork, cork then filled 
in so eggs won’t jostle, cork then spread 
on top and cover shut down tight. Get 
the cork from a fruiterer, who is glad 
to give it to me, rather than burn it up. 
Ilis white grapes come packed in cork. 
AA^ight of cork adds nothing to the i)ost- 
age. Boxes now cost 11c apiece (la.st 
year 6c) ; postage first zone one box 9c, 
total shipping cost 10c per dozen. Al¬ 
ways try to make customer take four 
dozen, then postage 13c, total for four 
dozen 8%c per dozen. Of course this is 
high for transportation, but these are 
extraordinary times. I have shipped sev¬ 
eral thousand dollars in eggs by post 
with little or no breakage in three years. 
If boxes are returned pay three to five 
cents each, but it hardly pays, as they, 
are more or less mutilated. 
Connecticut glen WRioirr. 
A Church Subscription Agency 
AA'e have rebuilt our church recently ; 
it is located in the country about three 
miles from the neare.st town. AA'e try 
to make it a sort of comunity church for 
the nei^bpring farmers. It is a lit¬ 
tle hard to' progress, as there is so much 
going on in all small towns in the way of 
socials, etc., and our crowd has always 
been used to going there. But we have 
a fine Christian Endeavor Society, indeed 
the best of any of the surrounding 
< liurches. We have a library committee 
in the society and have started a 
library. Some books were donated, some 
bought, and a traveling library secured. 
AVe have several other things the so¬ 
ciety W’ill i)robably undertake in the 
future. We thought of starting a 
magazine agency in the society to hel)) 
the neighbors and may be to get some 
profit. I was w’ondering if you could 
give us some advice as to proceeding. 
Ilow do magazine agencies secure their 
ju’ofit’i' Nearly every farmer takes a 
daily and some farm paper and a goo<l 
many some story paper. AVould we get 
a commission on the subscription we 
sent 'in, and about how much? A few 
of the older members have joined the 
society, but we young people 'h lye the 
absolute management of the affairs. 
Iowa. w. p. w. 
'I’here ought to be some little oppor¬ 
tunity in this if you can get a live 
man or woman to take it up. It must 
be some one who is promptly on the 
iob, with good business ability as well 
as patience and tact. Select such a 
person if you can get him, and give him 
authority to act as agent. He should 
w’rite to the different publications which 
you have in mind. Tell them he w’ants 
to act as agent for their magazine and 
find out what discoxint they will give 
him. The usual discount is 25%, but 
sometimes he will find a publication an¬ 
xious to introduce itself w'hich may do 
a little better than this. It frequently 
haj)pcus that an individual agent acting 
in his own name could obtain a little 
better rate than what is know’u as a 
regular agency. This is not always true, 
for sometimes the larger agencies who 
do a good-sized business can obtain bet¬ 
ter rates than an individual. These 
things will have to be determineel by 
correspondence and fair comparisons. 
In addition to obtaining rates direct 
from the publishers we suggest that you 
W’rite and get the catalogue of some of 
the best sub.scription agencies. In some 
cases you w’ill find that their rates are 
low’er than those given direct by pub¬ 
lishers, and you can save money on some 
magazines by making up a list of sub¬ 
scribers and sending them in a hunch 
with .single postage to these agencies. 
3'his is frequently done with profit. All 
these things should be considered care¬ 
fully before starting in. Then, of course, 
a canvaas of the territory will have to 
be made to find out just what magazines 
are being taken or what new ones are 
wanted. A little circular or pamphlet 
giving prices and something about the 
various magazines can be used for cir¬ 
culation, but in such a society as yours 
most of the w’ork will be personal. 
Everyone in the neij^hborhood who takes 
a magazine should feel it a jjart of his 
duty to give this busine.ss to the so-. 
ciety’s agent. 
1 _ 
They had lost their way in their new’ 
and expensive car. “There’s a sign, 
dear,” she said to her husband, w’ho got 
out of the car and flashed his flashlight 
on the board. “Are we on the right 
road?” she asked. He read: “To the 
Boorhou.se.” “Ye.s.” he answered. “AVe’re 
on the right road and we didn’t know 
it.”—Melbourne Leader. 
