CHAPTER VIII

DISEASES

For the study of the classification and description of the numerous

ailments by which individual fowls pass to their untimely end, I

recommend any of the numerous books written upon the subject. Some

of these works are more accurate than others, but that I consider

immaterial. The study of these diseases is good for the poultryman,

it gives his mind exercise. When a boy in high school I studied

Latin for the same purpose.

Don't Doctor Chickens.

For the cure of all poultry diseases when they have passed a point

when the fowl does not eat or for other reasons recovery is

improbable, I recommend a blow on the head--the hatchet spills the

blood which is unwise.

The usual formula of "burn or bury deeply" is somewhat troublesome,

unless you have a furnace running. A covered pit is more convenient

if far enough removed from the house that the odor is not

prohibitive. A post with a tally card may be planted near by. This

part of the poultry farm may be marked "Exhibit A," and shown first

to the visitor during the busy season. If he is one of those

prospective pleasure and profit poultrymen who propose to disregard

all facts of biology and economics of production, you may save

yourself the trouble of showing him the rest of the plant.

Unfortunately, this scheme is not open to the poultryman who has

breeding stock for sale.

I have frequently had the question put to me in the smoker of a

Pullman car, "Do not epidemic diseases make the poultry business

precarious?" Such questions came from farm-raised men, but not from

poultry farmers. Poultrymen should figure a certain loss of birds

just as insurance companies figure on the human death rate, but to

all practical intents and purposes the epidemic disease has been

banished from the poultry farms and seldom if ever enters the

records in answer to the question, "Why do poultry farms fail?"

Some of my readers may take exception to me either in regard to roup

or white diarrhoea. Roup is a disease of the wrong system and

careless management. White diarrhoea, so-called, is a matter of

wrong incubation.

The high mortality of young chicks, though not an epidemic disease,

shares with excessive cost of production, very much of the

responsibility for poultry farm failures. At the present writing the

poultry editors of the country are having much discussion over the

conclusion of Dr. Morse of the Bureau of Animal Industry to the

effect that white diarrhoea is caused by an intestinal parasite

similar to the germ that causes human dysentery. Dr. Morse's

opportunities for investigation have been somewhat limited and as

the intestines of any animal are always swarming with various

organisms, it will take very conclusive evidence to prove that the

doctor is right. Practically the naming of the germs that attend the

funeral is not particularly important for the reason that it has

been thoroughly demonstrated that with good parentage, good

incubation and good brooder conditions, white diarrhoea is unknown.

The Causes of Poultry Diseases.

Poultry ailments are assignable to one of the three following

causes, or a combination of these: First, hereditary or inborn

weakness; second, unfavorable conditions of food, surroundings,

etc.; third, bacteria or animal parasites.

A great many chickens die while yet within the shell, or during the

growing process, there being no assignable reason save that of

inherited weakness. To this class of troubles the only remedy is to

breed from better stock. It is as much the trait of some birds to

produce infertile eggs or chicks of low vitality as it is for others

to produce vigorous offspring.

The second class of ailments needs no discussion save that accorded

it under the general discussions of the method of conducting the

business.

The third class of ailments includes the contagious diseases. It is

now believed that most common diseases are caused by microscopic

germs known as bacteria. These germs in some manner gain entrance to

the body of an animal, and, growing within the tissues, give off

poisonous substances known as toxins, which produce the symptoms of

the disease. The ability to withstand disease germs varies with the

particular animal and the kind of disease. As a general rule it may

be stated that disease germs cannot live in the body of a perfectly

vigorous and healthy animal. It is only when the vitality is at a

low ebb, owing to unfavorable conditions or inherited weakness, that

disease germs enter the body and produce disease.

The bacteria which cause disease, like other living organisms, may

be killed by poisoning. Such poisons are known as disinfectants. If

it were possible to kill the bacteria within the animal, the curing

of disease would be a simple matter, but unfortunately the common

chemical poisons that kill germs kill the animal also. The only

thing that can be relied upon to kill disease germs within the

animal, is a counter-poison developed by the animal itself and known

as anti-toxin. Such anti-toxins can be produced artificially and are

used to combat certain diseases, as diphtheria and small-pox in

human beings and blackleg in cattle. Such methods of combating

poultry diseases have not been developed, and due to the small value

of an individual fowl would probably not be commercially useful even

if successful from a scientific standpoint. The only available

method of fighting contagious diseases of poultry is to destroy the

disease germs before they enter the fowls and to remove the causes

which make the fowl susceptible to the disease.

Contagious diseases of poultry may be grouped into two general

classes: First, those highly contagious; second, those contracted

only by fowls that are in a weakened condition. To the first class

belong the severe epidemics, of which chicken-cholera is the most

destructive.

Chicken-Cholera.

The European fowl-cholera has only been rarely identified in this

country. Other diseases similar in symptoms and effect are confused

with this. As the treatment should be similar the identification of

the diseases is not essential.

Yellow or greenish-colored droppings, listless attitude, refusal of

food and great thirst are the more readily observed symptoms. The

disease runs a rapid course, death resulting in about three days.

The death rate is very high. The disease is spread by droppings and

dead birds, and through feed and water. To stamp out the disease

kill or burn or bury all sick chickens, and disinfect the premises

frequently and thoroughly. A spray made of one-half gallon carbolic

acid, one-half gallon of phenol and twenty gallons of water may be

used. Corrosive sublimate, 1 part in 5000 parts of water, should be

used as drinking water. This is not to cure sick birds, but to

prevent the disease from spreading by means of the drinking vessels.

Food should be given in troughs arranged so that the chickens cannot

infect the food with the feet. All this work must be done

thoroughly, and even then considerable loss can be expected before

the disease is stamped out. If cholera has a good start in a flock

of chickens it will often be better to dispose of the entire flock

than to combat the disease. Fortunately cholera epidemics are rare

and in many localities have never been known.

Roup.

This disease is a representative of that class of diseases which,

while being caused by bacteria, can be considered more of a disease

of conditions than of contagion. Roup may be caused by a number of

different bacteria which are commonly found in the air and soil.

When chickens catch cold these germs find lodgment in the nasal

passages and roup ensues. The first symptoms of roup are those of an

ordinary cold, but as the disease progresses a cheesy secretion

appears in the head and throat. A wheezing or rattling sound is

often produced by the breathing. The face and eyes swell, and in

severe cases the chicken becomes blind. The most certain way of

identifying roup is a characteristic sickening odor. The disease may

last a week or a year. Birds occasionally recover, but are generally

useless after having had roup.

Sick birds should be removed and destroyed, but the time usually

spent in doctoring sick birds and disinfecting houses can in this

case be better employed in finding and remedying the cause of the

disease. Such causes may be looked for as dampness, exposure to cold

winds, or to a sudden change in temperature as is experienced by

chickens roosting in a tight house. Fall and winter are the seasons

of roup, while it is poorly housed and poorly fed flocks that most

commonly suffer from this disease. Flocks that have become

thoroughly roupy should be disposed of and more vigorous birds

secured. The open front house has proved to be the most practical

scheme for the reduction of this disease.

Chicken-Pox, Gapes, Limber Neck.

Chicken-pox or sore-head is a disease peculiar to the South. It

attacks growing chickens late in the summer. Southern poultrymen who

give reasonable attention to their stock, find that, while this

disease is a source of some annoyance, the losses are not severe and

that it may be readily controlled. In the first place, the animal

epidemic of pox can be practically avoided by bringing the chicks

out early in the season. If the disease does develop in the flock,

the birds are taken from the coops at night and their heads dipped

in a proper strength of one of the coal tar disinfectants. Such

treatment once a week has generally been effective. This disease is

an exception to the general rule that disinfectants which kill germs

also kill the chicken. The explanation is that chicken-pox is an

external disease.

Gapes is given in every poultry book as one of the prominent poultry

diseases, but are not common in the Northern and Western States.

Gapes are caused by a parasitic worm in the windpipe. Growing chicks

are affected. The remedy is to move the chicks to fresh ground and

cultivate the old.

Limber neck is not a disease, but is the result of the fowl's eating

maggots from dead carcasses. It can be prevented by not allowing

dead carcasses to remain where the chickens will find them. No

practical cure is known.

Lice and Mites.

The parasites referred to as chicken-lice include many different

species, but in habit they may be classed as body-lice and

roost-mites. The first, or true bird-lice, live on the body of the

chicken and eat the feathers and skin. The roost-mite is similar to

a spider and differs in habits from the body-louse in that it sucks

the blood of the chicken and does not remain on the body of the fowl

except at night.

Body-lice are to be found upon almost all chickens, as well as on

many other kinds of birds. Their presence in small numbers on

matured fowls is not a serious matter. When body-lice are abundant

on sitting hens they go from the hen to the newly hatched chickens,

and may cause the death of the chicks. The successful methods of

destroying body-lice are three in number: First, dust or earth

wallows in which the active hens will get rid of lice. Such dust

baths should be especially provided for yarded chickens and during

the winter. Dry earth can be stored for this purpose. Sitting hens

should have access to dust baths. Second: The second method by which

body-lice may be destroyed is the use of insect powder. The

pyrethrum powder is considered the best for this purpose, but is

expensive and difficult to procure in the pure state. Tobacco dust

is also used. Insect powder is applied by holding the hen by the

feet and working the dust thoroughly into the feathers, especially

the fluff. The use of insect powder should be confined to sitting

hens and fancy stock, as the cost and labor of applying is too great

for use upon the common chicken. The third method is suitable for

young chickens, and consists of applying some oil and grease on the

head and under the wings. Do not grease the chick all over. With

vigorous chickens and correct management the natural dust bath is

all that is needed to combat the lice.

The roost-mite is probably the cause of more loss to farm poultry

raisers than any other pest or disease. The great difficulty in

destroying mites on many farms is that chickens are allowed to roost

in too many places. If the chicken-house proper is the only building

infected with mites the difficulty of destroying them is not great.

Plainness in the interior furnishings of the chicken-house is also a

great advantage when it comes to fighting mites. The mites in the

daytime are to be found lodged in the cracks near the roosting-place

of the chickens.

Mites can be killed with various liquids, the best in point of

cheapness is boiling water. Give the chicken-house a thorough

cleaning and scald by throwing dippers of hot water in all places

where the mites can find lodgment. Hot water destroys the eggs as

well as the mites. Whitewash is a good remedy, as it buries both

mites and eggs beneath a coating of lime from which they cannot

emerge. Pure kerosene or a solution of carbolic acid in kerosene, at

the rate of a pint of acid to a gallon of oil, is an effective

lice-paint. Another substance much used for destroying insects or

similar pests is carbon bisulphide. This is a liquid which

evaporates readily, the vapor destroying the insects or mites.

Carbon bisulphide or other fumigating agents are not effective in

the average chicken-house because the house cannot be tightly

closed. The liquid lice-killers on the market are very effective.

They are usually composed of the remedies just mentioned, or of

something of similar properties.

CHAPTER IX

POULTRY FLESH AND POULTRY FATTENING

The poultry flesh which is used for food may be grouped into three

divisions.

First: Poultry carcasses grown especially for market.

Second: Poultry carcasses consisting of hens and young male birds

that are sold from the general farms where the pullets are kept for

egg production.

Third: The cockerels and old hens sold as a by-product from egg

farms.

The third class hardly needs our consideration in the present

chapter. This stock, usually Leghorns, like Jersey veal, is to be

disposed of at whatever price the market offers.

The cockerel will, if growing nicely, be fairly plump and the hens,

if on hopper rations of corn and beef scrap, will be about as fat as

they can be profitably made, and to waste further effort upon them

would not pay. Leghorn cockerels and hens are a wholesome enough

meat, but will never command fancy prices nor warrant extra pains.

In class two we find the great mass of the poultry flesh of the

country. This stock consisting chiefly, as it does, of Plymouth

Rocks and Wyandottes, is well worth some extra pains toward

increasing its quantity and quality.

Within the last ten or fifteen years several changes have been

brought about in the general methods of handling farm poultry.

Formerly it was thought desirable to market all stock not kept as

layers while in the broiler stage of from 1-1/2 to 2 pounds. Since

the introduction of the custom of holding fall broilers over in cold

storage, the price has fallen until it is now more profitable to

market the surplus cockerels from the farm at three or four months

of age. At this period the flesh has cost less per pound to produce

than at either an earlier or later stage. For such purposes only the

well fleshed type of American breeds has been found desirable. The

Leghorns and similar breeds are too small and become staggy too

soon.

Contrary to a common belief and to the custom in the poultry books

of classifying the Asiatics as meat breeds, the Brahmas and Cochins

are among the very poorest fowls that can be used for farm

production of poultry meat. At the age spoken of these breeds are

lanky and unsightly and not wanted by poultry packers.

Consecutively with and perhaps responsible for change of sentiment

that demands that broilers be allowed to grow into four pound

chickens, we find the development of the crate fattening industry.

Crate-Fattening.

The introduction of crate-fattening into the Central West occurred

about 1900. The credit of this introduction belongs to the large

meat packing firms. At the present time the business is not confined

to the meat packers, but is shared by independent plants throughout

the country.

The plants of the West range from a few hundred to as high as 20,000

capacity. They are constructed for convenience and a saving of

labor, and in this respect are decidedly in advance of the European

establishments where fattening has been long practiced.

The room used for fattening is well built and sanitary. A good

system of ventilation is essential, as murky, damp air breeds colds

and roup. The coops are built back to back, and two or more coops in

height. Each coop is high and wide enough to comfortably accommodate

the chickens, and long enough to contain from five to twelve

chickens. The chickens stand on slats, beneath which are

dropping-boards that may be drawn out for cleaning. The

dropping-boards and feeding-troughs are often made of metal. Strict

cleanliness is enforced. No droppings or feed are allowed to

accumulate and decompose.

As is a general rule in meat production, young animals give much

better returns for food consumed than do mature individuals. With

the young chicken the weight is added as flesh, while the hen has a

tendency, which increases with age, to turn the same food into

useless fat. For this reason the general practice is to fatten only

the best of the young chickens. The head feeder at a large and

successful poultry plant gave the following information on the

selection of birds for the fattening-crates:

"The younger the stock the more profitable the gain. All specimens

showing the slightest indication of disease are discarded. The

Plymouth Rock is the favorite breed, and the Wyandotte is second.

Leghorns are comparatively fat when received, and, while they do

well under feed and 'yellow up' nicely, they do not gain as much as

the American breeds. Black chickens are not fed at all. Brahmas and

Cochins are not considered good feeders at the age when they are

commonly sold. Chickens in fair flesh at the start make better gains

than those that are extremely lean or very fat. But, contrary to

what the amateur might assume, the moderately fat chicken will

continue to make fair gains, while the very lean chicken seldom

returns a profit."

The idea has been somewhat prevalent that there is some guarded

secret about the rations used in crate-fattening. This is a mistaken

notion. The rations used contain no new or wonderful constituent,

and although individual feeders may have their own formulas, the

general composition of the feed is common knowledge. The feed most

commonly used consists of finely ground grain, mixed to a batter

with buttermilk or sour skim-milk. The favorite grain for the

purpose is oats finely ground and the hulls removed. Oats may be

used as the sole grain, and is the only grain recommended as

suitable to be fed alone. Corn is used, but not by itself. Shorts,

ground barley or ground buckwheat are sometimes used. Beans, peas,

linseed and gluten meals may be used in small quantities. When milk

products are obtainable they are a great aid to successful

fattening. Tallow is often used in small quantities toward the

finish of the feeding period. The assumption is that it causes the

deposit of fat-globules throughout the muscular tissues, thus adding

to the quality of the meat. The following simple rations show that

there is nothing complex about the crate-fed chicken's bill of fare:

No. 1.--Ground oats, 2 parts; ground barley, 1 part; ground corn, 1

part; mixed with skim-milk.

No. 2.--Ground corn, 4 parts; ground peas, 1 part; ground oats, 1

part; meat-meal, 1 part; mixed with water.

A ration used by some fatters with great success is composed of

simply oatmeal and buttermilk.

The feed is given as a soft batter and is left in the troughs for

about thirty minutes, when the residue is removed. Chickens are

generally fed three times per day. Water may or may not be given,

according to the weather and the amount of liquid used in the food.

The chicken that has been crate-fattened has practically the same

amount of skeleton and offal as the unfattened specimen, but carries

one or two pounds more of edible meat upon its carcass. Not only is

the weight of the chicken and amount of edible meat increased, but

the quality of the meat is greatly improved, consisting of juicy,

tender flesh. For this reason the crate-feeding process is often

spoken of as fleshing rather than as fattening.

The enforced idleness causes the muscular tissue to become tender

and filled with stored nutriment. The fatness of a young chicken,

crate-fed on buttermilk and oatmeal, is a radically different thing

from the fatness of an old hen that has been ranging around the

corn-crib.

The crate-fattening industry while deserving credit for great

improvement in the quality of chicken flesh in the regions where it

has been introduced, cannot on the whole be considered a great

success. It is commonly reported that some of the firms instrumental

in its introduction lost money on the deal. The crate-fattening

plant has come to stay in the communities where careful methods of

poultry raising are practiced, and where the stock is of the best,

but when a plant is located in a newly settled region where the

poultry stock is small and feed scarce, the venture is pretty apt to

prove a fiasco.

While poultryman at the Kansas Experiment Station, the writer made a

large number of individual weighings of fowls in the crates of one

of the large fattening plants of the state.

These weighings pointed out very clearly why the expected profits

had not been realized. The birds selected for weighing were all

fine, uniform looking Barred Rock Cockerels. At the end of the first

week they were found to still appear much the same, but when handled

a difference was easily noticed. By the end of the second week a few

birds had died and many others were in a bad way. The individual

changes of weight ran from 2-1/2 pounds gain to 3/4 pound loss, and

many of the lighter birds were of very poor appearance. It is simply

a matter of forced feeding being a process that makes trouble with

the health of the chicken if all is not just right.

It is probable that in the future more fattening will be done on the

farm, or by the farmer operating in a small way among his neighbors.

The reason for this is that the saving of labor in the large plant

is hardly as great as the added loss from the shrinkage of the birds

due to the excitement of shipping and crowding, and the introduction

of disease by the mingling of chickens from so many different

sources.

The Canadians especially have encouraged fattening on the farm. The

following is a hand-bill gotten out by an enterprising Canadian

dealer for distribution among the farmers of his locality:

HOW TO FATTEN CHICKENS FOR THE EXPORT TRADE.

To fatten birds for the export trade, it is necessary

to have proper coops to put them in. These should be

two feet long, twenty inches high and twenty inches

deep, the top, bottom and front made of slats. This

size will hold four birds, but the cheapest plan is to

build the coops ten feet long and divide them into five

sections.

What to feed.

Oats chopped fine, the coarse hulls sifted out, two

parts; ground buckwheat, one part; mix with skim-milk

to a good soft batter, and feed three times a day.

Or, black barley and oats, two parts oats to one part

barley. Give clean drinking water twice a day, grit

twice a week, and charcoal once a week. During the

first week the birds are in the coops they should be

fed sparingly--only about one-half of what they will

eat. After that gradually increase the amount until

you find out just how much they will eat up clean

each time. Never leave any food in the troughs, as

it will sour and cause trouble. Mix the food always

one feed ahead. Birds fed in this way will be ready

for the export trade in from four to five weeks.

Chickens make the best gain put in the coop weighing

three to four pounds.

We Supply the Coops.

We have on hand a number of coops for fattening

chicks, which we will loan to any person, "free of

charge", who will sign an agreement to bring all

chicks fattened in them to us. Every farmer should

have at least one of these coops, as this is the only

way to fatten chicks properly. In this way you can

get the highest market price. We can handle any

quantity of chicks properly fatted.

ARMSTRONG BROS.

The farmer who does not think it worth while to construct

fattening-crates for his own crop of chickens, may get very fair

results by simply enclosing the chickens in some vacant shed. To

these may feed a ration of two-thirds corn meal and one-third

shorts, or some of the more complicated rations used at the

fattening plants may be fed.

In the East, poultry fattening on the general farm is not dissimilar

from the practices in the Central West, but we find a larger use of

cramming machines, caponizing, and the growing of chickens for meat

as an industry independent of keeping hens for egg production.

The cramming machine is a device by means of which food in a

semi-liquid state is pumped into the bird's crop, through a tube

inserted in the mouth. This means of feeding is much more used in

Europe than in this country. It requires good stock and careful

workmen. The method will probably slowly gain ground in this

country. The feed used in cramming is similar to that used in

ordinary crate feeding, except that it is mixed as a thin batter.

Caponizing.

Caponizing is the castration of male chickens. Capons hold the same

place in the poultry market as do steers in the beef market.

Caponizing is practiced to quite an extent in France, and to a less

degree in England and the United States.

Much the larger part of the industry is confined to that portion of

the United States east of Philadelphia, though increasing numbers of

capons are being raised in the North Central States. During the

winter months capon is regularly quoted in the markets of the larger

eastern cities. Massachusetts and New Jersey are the great centers

for the growing of capons, while Boston, New York, and Philadelphia

are the great markets. In many eastern markets the prices paid for

dressed capons range from 20 to 30 cents a pound. The highest prices

usually prevail from January to May, and the larger the birds the

more they bring a pound.

The purpose of caponizing is not, as is sometimes stated, to

increase the size of the chicken, but to improve the quality of the

meat. The capon fattens more readily and economically than other

birds. As they do not interfere with or worry one another, large

flocks may be kept together.

The breeds suitable for caponizing are the Asiatics and Americans.

Brahmas will produce, with proper care and sufficient time, the

largest and finest capons. On the ordinary farm, where capons would

be allowed to run loose, Plymouth Rocks would prove more profitable.

Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas, Langshans, Wyandottes, Indian Games, may

all be used for capons. Leghorns are not to be considered for this

purpose.

Capons should be operated upon when they are about ten weeks or

three months old and weigh about two pounds.

The operation of caponizing is performed by cutting in between the

last two ribs. Both testicles may be removed from one side or both

sides may be opened. The cockerel should be starved for twenty-four

hours in order to empty the intestines. Asiatics are more difficult

to operate on than Americans, the testicles being larger and less

firm. There is always some danger of causing death by tearing blood

vessels, but the per cent. of loss with an experienced operator is

very small. Loss by inflammation is still more rare. The testicle of

a bird is not as highly developed as in a mammal, and if the organ

is broken and a small fragment remains attached it will produce

birds known as slips. Some growers advise looking over the capons

and puncturing the wind puffs that gather beneath the skin. This,

however, is not necessary.

A good set of tools is indispensable and can be purchased for from

$2 to $3. As a complete set of instructions is furnished with each

set it is unnecessary to go into details here. The beginner should,

however, operate on several dead cockerels before attempting to

operate on a live one.

After caponizing the bird should be given plenty of soft feed and

water. The capon begins to eat almost immediately after the

operation is performed, and no one would suppose that a radical

change had taken place in his nature.

The feeding of capons differs little from the feeding of other

growing chickens. Corn, wheat, barley and Kaffir-corn would be

suitable grain, while beef-scrap would be necessary to produce the

best growth.

About three weeks before marketing place the capons in small yards

and feed them three or four times a day, giving plenty of corn and

other feed, or fatten them in one of the ways indicated in the

section on fattening poultry. Corn meal and ground oats, equal parts

by weight, moistened with water or milk, make a good mash for

fattening capons.

In dressing capons leave the head and hackle feathers, the feathers

on the wings to the second joint, the tail feathers, including those

a little way up the back, and the feathers on the legs halfway up to

the thigh. These feathers serve to distinguish capons from other

fowls in the market. Do not cut the head off, for this is also a

distinguishing feature of the capon, on account of the undeveloped

comb and wattles.

The price received for capons is greater than any other kind of

poultry meat except early broilers. There may be trouble in some

localities in getting dealers to recognize capons as such and pay an

advanced price.

On several farms in Massachusetts, 500 to 1,000 capons are raised

annually, and on one farm 5,000 cockerels are held for caponizing.

The industry is growing rapidly year by year and the supply does not

equal the demand.

It is to be expected that the amount of caponizing done in the West

will gradually increase. Those wishing to try the growing of capons

will do well to secure an experienced operator. Good men at this

work receive five cents per bird. Poor operators are dear at any

price, as they produce a large number of worthless slips.

CHAPTER X

MARKETING POULTRY CARCASSES

In the marketing of poultry carcasses as in other phases of the

industry, we really have two systems to discuss. The one is used for

the marketing of the product of the farm of the Central West, and

the other the product of the poultryman or eastern farmer, who is

near a large market and who will be repaid for taking special pains

in preparing his poultry for market.

Farm-Grown Chickens.

At the present time almost the entire poultry crop of the Central

West is sold from the farm as live poultry. This farm stock is

purchased by produce buyers or general merchants and shipped to the

nearest county seat or other important town, where there are usually

one or more poultry-killing establishments. These establishments may

vary from a simple shed, where the chickens are picked and packed in

barrels, to the more modern poultry-packing establishment, with its

accommodations for fattening, dressing, packing, freezing, and

storing.

The poultry-buying stations may be branches of the larger packing

establishments, branch houses of large produce firms, or small firms

operating independently and selling in the open market.

The chickens as purchased are grouped into the following classes:

Springs, hens, old roosters and (at certain seasons) young roosters

or staggy cockerels. Early in the season small springs are quoted as

broilers, while capons form a separate item where such are grown.

Chickens are starved before killing, for the purpose of emptying the

crop, and, to some degree, the intestines. If this is not done the

carcass presents an unsightly appearance and spoils more readily in

storage.

The method of picking is not always the same, even in the same

plant. Scalding is frequently used for local trade, in the summer

season, or with cheap-grade stuff. The greater portion of the stock

is picked dry. The pickers are generally paid so much per bird. In

some plants men do the roughing while girls are employed as pinners.

Pickers work either with the chickens suspended by a cord or

fastened upon a bench adopted to this purpose. The killing is done

by bleeding and sticking. The last thrust reaches the brain and

paralyzes the bird. The manner of making these cuts must be learned

by practical instruction. The feathers are saved, and amount to a

considerable item. White feathers are worth more than others. The

head and feet are left on the chicken and the entrails are not

removed.

The bird, after being chilled in ice-water or in the cooling room,

is ready for grading and packing. This, from the producer's

standpoint, is the most interesting stage in the process, for it is

here that the quality of the stock is to be observed. The grading is

made on three considerations: (1) The general division of cocks,

springs, hens and capons is kept separate from the killing-room; (2)

the grading for quality; (3) the assortment according to size.

The grading for quality depends on the general shape of the chicken,

the plumpness or covering of meat, the neatness of picking, the

color of skin and legs, and the appearance of the feet and head,

which latter points indicate the age and condition of health. The

culls consist of deformed and scrawny chickens. The seconds are poor

in flesh, or they may be, in the case of hens, unsightly from

overfatness. They are packed in barrels and go to the cheapest

trade. Those carcasses slightly bruised or torn in dressing also go

in this class. Although a preference is generally stated for

yellow-skinned poultry, the white-skinned birds, if equal in other

points, are not underranked in this score. The skin color that is

decidedly objectionable is the purplish tinge, which is a sign of

diseased stock. Black pin-feathers and dark-colored legs are a

source of objection. Especially is this true with young birds which

show the pin-feathers. Feathered legs are slightly more

objectionable than smooth legs. Small combs and the absence of spurs

give better appearance to the carcass.

The following is the nomenclature and corresponding weights of the

farm marketed chickens. In each class there will be seconds and

culls. The seconds of each group are kept separate, but not graded

so strictly or perhaps not graded at all for size. The culls are

packed in barrels and all kinds of chickens from fryers to old

roosters here sojourn together until they reach their final

destination, as potted chicken or chicken soup.

Broilers--Packed in two weights. 1st: Less than two pounds; 2d:

between 2 and 2-1/2 pounds.

Chickens--Packed in three weights. 1st: between 2-1/2 and 3 pounds;

2d: between 3 and 3-1/2 pounds; 3d: between 3-1/2 and 4 pounds.

Roasters--Packed in two weights. 1st: between 4 and 5 pounds; 2d:

above 5 pounds.

Stag Roosters--Cockerels, showing spurs and hard blue meat, packed

in two weights. 1st: under 4 pounds; 2d: above 4 pounds.

Fowls, are hens. They are packed in three sizes. 1st: under 3-1/4

pounds; 2d: between 3-1/4 and 4-1/2 pounds; 3d: over 4-1/2 pounds.

Old Roosters--Packed in barrels. One grade only.

After packing, chickens may be shipped to market immediately, or

they may be frozen and stored in the local plant. Shipments of any

importance are made in refrigerator cars.

The poultry that is shipped to the final market alive is gradually

diminishing in quantity, as poultry killing plants are built up

throughout the country. The live poultry shipments are chiefly made

in the Live Poultry Transportation Cars. The following figures give

the number of such cars that moved out of the States named in a

recent year:

Iowa 645 Tennessee 169

Missouri 630 Michigan 165

Illinois 624 S. Dakota 103

Kentucky 472 Oklahoma 101

Nebraska 395 Indiana 100

Kansas 370 Wisconsin 93

Minnesota 174 Texas 91

Ohio 173 Arkansas 47

The most of this live poultry goes to New York and other eastern

cities and is consumed largely by the Hebrew trade.

The Special Poultry Plant.

The special egg farmer of the East should sell his poultry alive to

the regular dealer. The exception to this advice may be taken in the

case of squab broilers for which some local dealers will not pay as

fancy a price as may be obtained by dressing and shipping to the

hotel trade.

The grower of roasters and capons will probably want to market his

own product. As to whether it will pay him to do so will depend upon

whether his dealer will pay what the quality of the goods really

demands. The dealer can afford to do this all right, if he will

hustle around and find an outlet for the particular grade of goods,

for he is in position to kill and dress the fowls more economically

than the producer.

I have never been able to study out why the average writer upon

agricultural subjects is always advising the farmer to attempt to do

difficult work for which special firms already exist. In the case of

fattening just referred to, there is reason why the farmer may be

able to do the work more successfully than the special

establishment, but why any one should urge the farmer to turn the

woodshed into a temporary poultry packing establishment I can hardly

see. If the farmer has nothing to do he had better get a job at the

poultry killing house where they have ice water and barrels in which

to put the feathers.

I do not think it worth while in this book for me to attempt to

describe in detail the various methods of killing and packing

poultry for the various retail markets. The grower who contemplates

killing his own stuff had better spend a day visiting the produce

houses and market stalls and inquire which methods are locally in

demand.

Suggestions from Other Countries.

In European countries generally, and especially in France and

England, great pains is taken in the production of market poultry.

Each farmer and each neighborhood become known in the market for the

quality of their poultry, and the prices they receive vary

accordingly. In these countries more poultry is fattened and dressed

by the growers than in the United States where we have greater

specialization of labor.

In countries that have an export trade different systems have

originated. In Denmark and Ireland co-operative societies are

organized to handle perishable farm products. These, however, deal

more with eggs than with poultry. In portions of England the

fattening is done by private fatteners. The country being thickly

settled, the chickens are collected directly from the farms by

wagons making regular trips. This allows the rejection of the poor

and immature specimens, whereas a premium may be paid on better

stock.

The greatest fault of poultry buying as conducted in this country is

the evil of a uniform price. After chickens are dressed the

difference of quality is readily discerned, and the price varies

from fancy quotations to almost nothing for culls. The packer pays a

given rate per pound for live hens or for spring chickens. The price

is paid alike for the best poultry received or for the scrawniest

chickens that can be coaxed to stand up and be weighed. The prices

paid is the average worth of all chickens purchased at that market.

All farmers who market an article better than the average are unjust

losers, while those who sell inferior stock receive unearned

profits. The producer of good stock receives pay for the extra

quantity of his chickens, but for the extra quality no recognition

whatever is given. To the deserving producer, if quality was

recognized, it would result in a greatly increased stimulation of

the production of good poultry. Any packer, if questioned, will

state that he would be willing to grade chickens and pay for them

according to quality, but that he does not do so because his

competitor would pay a uniform price and drive him out of business.

The man who receives an increased price would say little of it,

while the man who sells poor chickens, if he failed to receive the

full amount to which he is accustomed, would think himself unjustly

treated and use his influence against the dealer. A recognition of

quality in buying is for the interest of both the farmer and the

poultry dealer, and a mutual effort on the part of those interested

to put in practice this reform would result in a great improvement

of the poultry industry.

Cold Storage of Poultry.

The growth of the cold storage of poultry has been phenomenal.

Poultry is packed in thin boxes that will readily lose their heat

and these are stacked in a freezer with a temperature near the zero

point. The temperature used for holding poultry are anywhere from 0

degree up to 20 degrees. Poultry is held for periods of one to six

weeks at temperature above the freezing point.

Frozen poultry will keep almost indefinitely save for the drying

out, which is due to the fact that evaporation will proceed slowly

even from a frozen body. The time frozen poultry is stored varies

from a few weeks to eight or ten months.

The usual rule is that any crop is highest in price when it first

comes on the market and cheapest just after the point of its

greatest production. Thus, broilers are high in May and cheap in

September. In such cases the goods are carried from the season of

plenty to the following season of scarcity. This period is always

less than a year. The idea circulated by wild writers, that cold

storage poultry was kept several years is an economic impossibility.

The interest on the investment alone would make the holding of

storage goods into the second season of plenty, quite unprofitable,

but when the costs of storage, insurance and shrinkage are to be

paid, storing poultry for more than one season becomes absurd. The

fowl that has been once frozen cannot be made to look "fresh killed"

again. For that reason packers like to get a monopoly on a

particular market so that the two classes of goods will not have to

compete side by side. The quality of the frozen fowl when served is

very fair, practically as good as and some say better than the fresh

killed.

Cold storage poultry is best thawed out by being placed over night

in a tank of water. Poultry prejudice prevents the practice of

retailing the goods frozen, though this method would be highly

desirable.

Drawn or Undrawn Fowls.

Within the last two or three years there has been a great hue and

cry about the marketing of poultry without drawing the entrails.

The objection to the custom rests upon the general prejudice to

allowing the entrails of animals to remain in the carcass. If a

little thought is given the subject, however, it is seen that human

prejudice is very inconsistent in such matters. We draw beef and

mutton carcasses, to be sure, but fish and game are stored undrawn,

and as for oysters and lobsters we not only store them undrawn but

we eat them so.

The facts about the undrawn poultry proposition are as follows: The

intestines of the fowl at death contain numerous species of

bacteria, whereas the flesh is quite free from germs. If the carcass

is not drawn, but immediately frozen hard, the bacteria remain

inactive and no essential change occurs. If the carcass is stored

without freezing, or remains for even a short time at a high

temperature, the bacteria will begin to grow through the intestinal

walls and contaminate the flesh.

Now, if the fowl is drawn, the unprotected flesh is exposed to

bacterial contamination, which results in decomposition more rapidly

than through the intestinal walls. The opening of the carcass also

allows a greater drying out and shrinkage.

If poultry carcasses were split wide open as with beef or mutton,

drawing might not prove as satisfactory as the present method, but

since this is not desirable, and since ordinary laborers will break

the intestines and spill their contents over the flesh, and

otherwise mutilate the fowl, all those who have had actual

experience in the matter agree that drawing poultry is unpractical

and undesirable.

As far as danger of disease or ptomaine poison is concerned, chances

between the two methods seem to offer little choice.

The Bureau of Chemistry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has

conducted a series of experiments along the line of poultry storage.

So far as the results have been published, nothing very striking has

been learned. From what has been published, the writer is of the

opinion that the somewhat mysterious changes that were observed in

the cold storage poultry were mostly a matter of drying out of the

carcass.

Poultry Inspection.

The enthusiastic members of the medical profession, and others whose

knowledge of practical affairs is somewhat limited, occasionally

come forth with the idea of an inspection of poultry carcasses

similar to the Federal inspection of the heavier meats.

The reasons that are supposed to warrant the Federal meat inspection

are precaution against disease and the idea of enforcing a

cleanliness in the handling of food behind the consumer's back,

which he would insist upon were he the preparer of his own food

products.

No doubt there is well established evidence that some diseases, such

as the dread trichinosis, are acquired by the consumption of

diseased meat. As far as it is at present known there are no

diseases acquired from the consumption of diseased poultry flesh,

but, as we do not know as much about the bacteria that infests

poultry as we do of that of larger animals, there is no positive

proof that such transmission of disease could not occur. Thorough

cooking kills all disease germs, and poultry is seldom, if ever,

eaten without such preparation.

The idea of protecting people from uncleanly methods of handling

their foods, concerning which they cannot themselves know, is

somewhat of a sentimental proposition. In practice it amounts to

nothing, save as the popular conception of this protection increases

the demand for the product which is marked "U.S. Inspected and

Passed."

It may be interesting to some of the reformers of 1906 to know that

the meat inspection bill then forced upon Congress by a clamoring

public was desired by the packers themselves. Because Congress would

not listen to the packers, and the Department of Agriculture, the

Chief Executive very kindly indulged in a little conversation with a

few reporters, the results of which gave Congress the needed

inspiration.

It cost the Government three million dollars to tell the people that

their meats are packed in a cleanly manner. If the people want this,

it is all well and good. The tax it places upon the price of meat is

less than half of one per cent.

A similar inspection of the killing and packing of poultry would

involve a very much higher rate of taxation, because of the fact

that poultry products are packed in small establishments scattered

throughout the entire country.

One reason that the meat packers wanted the United States

Inspection, is because it puts out of business the little fellow to

whom the Government cannot afford to grant inspection. A few of the

very largest poultry packers would like to see poultry inspection

for the same reason, but with the business so thoroughly scattered

as to render Government inspection so expensive as to be quite

impracticable, any such bill would certainly be killed in a

congressional committee.

Any practical means to bring about the cleanly handling, and to

prevent the consumption of diseased poultry, should certainly be

encouraged. This can be done by the education of the consumer.

Poultry carcasses should be marketed with head and feet attached and

the entrails undrawn. By this precaution the consumer may tell

whether the fowl he is buying is male or female, young or old,

healthy or diseased. All cold storage poultry should be frozen and

should be sold to the consumer in a frozen condition.

I am not in favor of the detailed regulation of business by law, but

I do believe that the legal enforcement of these last precautions

would be a good thing.

CHAPTER XI

QUALITY IN EGGS [*]

[Footnote *: Much of the matter in this and the following chapter is

taken from the writer's report of the egg trade of the United

States, published as Circular 140 of the Bureau of Annual Industry

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the present volume,

however, I have inserted some additional matters which policy

forbade that I discuss in a Federal document.]

Because of the readiness with which eggs spoil, the term "fresh" has

become synonymous with the idea of desirable quality in eggs. As a

matter of fact the actual age of an egg is quite subordinate to

other factors which affect the quality.

An egg forty-eight hours old that has lain in a wheat shock during a

warm July rain, would probably be swarming with bacteria and be

absolutely unfit for food. Another egg stored eight months in a

first-class cold storage room would be perfectly wholesome.

Grading Eggs.

Eggs are among the most difficult of food products to grade, because

each egg must be considered separately and because the actual

substance of the egg cannot be examined without destroying the egg.

From external appearance, eggs can be selected for size, color,

cleanliness of shell and freedom from cracks. This is the common

method of grading in early spring when the eggs are uniformly of

good quality.

Later in the season the egg candle is used. In the technical sense

any kind of a light may be used as an egg candle. A sixteen candle

power electric lamp is the most desirable. The light is enclosed in

a dark box, and the eggs are held against openings about the size of

a half dollar. The candler holds the egg large end upward, and gives

it a quick turn in order to view all sides, and to cause the

contents to whirl within the shell. To the expert this process

reveals the actual condition of the egg to an extent that the novice

can hardly realize. The art of egg candling cannot be readily taught

by worded description. One who wishes to learn egg candling had best

go to an adept in the art, or he may begin unaided and by breaking

many eggs learn the essential points.

Eggs when laid vary considerably in size, but otherwise are a very

uniform product. The purpose of the egg in nature requires that this

be the case, because the contents of the egg must be so proportioned

as to form the chick without surplus or waste, and this demands a

very constant chemical composition.

For food purposes all fresh eggs are practically equal. The tint of

the yolk varies a little, being a brighter yellow when green food

has been supplied the hens. Occasionally, when hens eat unusual

quantities of green food, the yolk show a greenish brown tint, and

appear dark to the candler. Such eggs are called grass eggs; they

are perfectly wholesome.

An opinion exists among egg men that the white of the spring egg is

of finer quality and will stand up better than summer eggs. This is

true enough of commercial eggs, but the difference is chiefly, if

not entirely, due to external factors that act upon the egg after it

is laid.

There are some other peculiarities that may exist in eggs at the

time of laying, such as a blood clot enclosed with the contents of

the egg, a broken yolk or perhaps bacterial contamination. "Tape

worms," so-called by egg candlers, are detached portions of the

membrane lining of the egg. "Liver spots" or "meat spots" are

detached folds from the walls of the oviduct. Such abnormalities are

rare and not worth worrying about.

The shells of eggs vary in shape, color and firmness. These

variations are more a matter of breed and individual idiosyncrasy

than of care or feed.

The strength of egg shells is important because of the loss from

breakage. The distinction between weak and firm shelled eggs is not

one, however, which can be readily remedied. Nothing more can be

advised in this regard than to feed a ration containing plenty of

mineral matter and to discard hens that lay noticeably weak shelled

or irregularly shaped eggs.

Preference in the color of eggs shells is a hobby, and one well

worth catering to. As is commonly stated, Boston and surrounding

towns want brown eggs, while New York and San Francisco demand white

eggs. These trade fancies take their origin in the circumstances of

there being large henneries in the respective localities producing

the particular class of eggs. If the eggs from such farms are the

best in the market and were uniformly of a particular shade, that

mark of distinction, like the trade name on a popular article, would

naturally become a selling point. Only the select trade consider the

color in buying.

Eggs of all Mediterranean breeds are white. Those of Asiatics are

brown. Those of the American breeds are usually brown, but not of so

uniform a tint.

The size of eggs is chiefly controlled by the breed or by selection

of layers of large eggs. In a number of experiments published by

various experiment stations, slight differences in the sizes of the

eggs have been noted with varying rations and environment, but this

cannot be attributed to anything more specific than the general

development and vigor of the fowls. Pullets, at the beginning of the

laying period, lay an egg decidedly smaller than those produced at a

later stage in life.

The egg size table below gives the size of representative

classes of eggs. These figures must not be applied too rigidly, as

the eggs of all breeds and all localities vary. They are given as

approximate averages of the eggs one might reasonably expect to find

in the class mentioned.

EGG SIZE TABLE.

GEOGRAPHICAL BREED Net Wt. Weight Relative

CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATIONS Per 30 Ounces Values

Dozen Per Per

Case Dozen Dozen

Southern Iowa's Purebred flocks of 45 lbs. 24 25c.

"Two ounce eggs" American varieties of

"egg farm Leghorns."

Poorest flocks of Games and 36 lbs. 19 1-5 20c.

Southern Dunghills Hamburgs.

Average Tennessee Poorest strains 40 lbs. 21 1-3 22 1-3c.

or Texas eggs. of Leghorns.

Average for the The mixed barnyard 43 lbs. 23 23 9-10c.

United States as fowl of the western

represented by farm, largely of

Kansas, Plymouth Rock origin.

Minnesota and

Southern Illinois.

Average size of eggs American Brahmas 48 lbs. 25 3-5 26 2-3c.

produced in Denmark. and Minorcas.

Selected brands of Equaled by several 54 lbs. 28 4-5 30c.

Danish eggs. pens of Leghorns in

the Australian laying

contest.

How Eggs Are Spoiled.

Dirty eggs are grouped roughly in three classes: (A) Plain dirties,

those to which soil or dung adheres; (B) stained eggs, those caused

by contact with damp straw or other material which discolors the

shell (plain dirties when washed usually show this appearance); (C)

smeared eggs, those covered with the contents of broken eggs.

For the first two classes of dirty eggs the producer is to blame.

The third class originates all along the route from the nest to

consumer. The percentage of dirty eggs varies with the season and

weather conditions, being noticeably increased during rainy weather.

In grading, about five per cent. of farm grown eggs are thrown out

as dirties. These dirties are sold at a loss of at least twenty per

cent.

The common trade name for cracked eggs is checks. Blind checks are

those in which the break in the shell is not readily observable.

They are detected with the aid of the candle, or by sounding, which

consists of clicking the eggs together. Dents are checks in which

the egg shell is pushed in without rupturing the membrane. Leakers

have lost part of the contents and are not only an entire loss

themselves, but produce smeared eggs.

The loss from breakage varies considerably with the amount of

handling in the process of marketing. A western produce house,

collecting from grocers by local freight will record from four to

seven per cent. of checks. With properly handled eggs the loss

through breakage should not run over one or two per cent.

Eggs in which the chick has begun to develop are spoken of as

"heated" eggs. Infertile eggs cannot heat because the germ has not

been fertilized and can make no growth. That such infertile eggs

cannot spoil is, however, a mistaken notion, for they are subjected

to all the other factors by which

eggs may be spoiled. The sale of eggs tested out of the incubators

has been encouraged by the dissemination of the knowledge that

infertile eggs are not changed by incubation. Eggs thrown out of an

incubator will be shrunken and weakened, and some of them may

contain dead germs and the remains of chicks that have died after

starting to develop. Such eggs may be sold for what they are, but

should never be mixed with other eggs or sold as fresh. When

carefully candled they should be worth ten or twelve cents a dozen.

Fertile eggs, at the time of laying, cannot be told from infertile

eggs, as the germ of the chick is microscopic in size. If the egg is

immediately cooled and held at a temperature below 70 degrees, the

germ will not develop. At a temperature of 103 degrees, the

development of the chick proceeds most rapidly. At this temperature

the development is about as follows:

Twelve hours incubation: When broken in a saucer, the germ spot,

visible upon all eggs, seems somewhat enlarged. Looked at with a

candle such an egg cannot be distinguished from a fresh egg.

Twenty-four hours: The germ spot mottled and about the size of a

dime. This egg, if not too dark shelled, can readily be detected

with the candle, the germ spot causing the yolk to appear

considerably darker than the yolk of a fresh egg. Such an egg is

called a heavy egg or a floater.

Forty-eight hours: By this time the opaque white membrane, which

surrounds the germ, has spread well over the top of the yolk, and

the egg is quite dark or heavy before the light. Blood appears at

about this period, but is difficult of detection by the candler,

unless the germ dies and the blood ring sticks to the membrane of

the egg.

Three days: The blood ring is the prominent feature and is as large

as a nickel. The yolk behind the membrane has become watery.

Four days: The body of the chick becomes readily visible, and

prominent radiating blood vessels are seen. The yolk is half covered

with a water containing membrane.

These stages develop as given, occurring at a temperature of 103

degrees. As the temperature is lowered the rate of chick development

is retarded, but at any temperature above 70, this development will

proceed far enough to cause serious injury to the quality of the

eggs.

For commercial use eggs may be grouped in regard to heating as

follows:

(1) No heat shown. Cannot be told at the candle from fresh eggs.

(2) Light floats. First grade that can be separated by candling,

corresponding to about twenty-four hours of incubation. These are

not objectionable to the average housewife.

(3) Heavy floats. This group has no distinction from the former,

except an exaggeration of the same feature. These eggs are

objectionable to the fastidious housewife, because of the appearing

of the white and scummy looking allantois on the yolk.

(4) Blood rings. Eggs in which blood has developed, extending to the

period when the chick becomes visible. (5) Chicks visible to the

candle.

The loss due to heated eggs is enormous; probably greater than that

caused by any other source of loss to the egg trade. The loss varies

with the season of the year, and the climate. In New England heat

loss is to be considered as in the same class as loss from dirties

and checks. In Texas the egg business from the 15th of June until

cool weather in the fall is practically dead. People stop eating

eggs at home and shipping out of the State nets the producer such

small returns by the time the loss is allowed that, at the prices

offered, it hardly pays the farmer to gather the eggs. In the season

of 1901 hatched chickens were commonly found in cases of market

eggs, throughout the trans-Mississippi region, and eggs did well to

net the shippers three cents per dozen.

Damage to eggs by heating and consequent financial loss is

inexcusable. In the first place, market eggs have no business being

fertilized, but whether they are or not they should be kept in a

place sufficiently cool to prevent all germ growth.

The egg shell is porous so that the developing chick may obtain air.

This exposes the moist contents of the egg to the drying influence

of the atmosphere. Evaporation from eggs takes place constantly. It

is increased by warm temperatures, dry air and currents of air

striking the egg.

When the egg is formed within the hen the contents fill the shell

completely. As the egg cools the contents shrink, and the two layers

of membrane separate in the large end of the egg, causing the

appearance of the bubble or air cell. Evaporation of water from the

egg further shrinks the contents and increases the size of the air

cell. The size of the air cell is commonly taken as a guide to the

age of the egg. But when we consider that with the same relative

humidity on a hot July day, evaporation would take place about ten

times as fast as on a frosty November morning, and that differences

in humidity and air currents equally great occur between localities,

we see that the age of an egg, judged by this method, means simply

the extent of evaporation, and proves nothing at all about the

actual age.

Even as a measure of evaporation, the size of the air cell may be

deceptive, for when an egg with an air cell of considerable size is

roughly handled, the air cell breaks down the side of the egg, and

gives the air cell the appearance of being larger than it really is.

Still rougher handling of shrunken eggs may cause the rupture of the

inner membrane, allowing the air to escape into the contents of the

egg. This causes a so-called watery or frothy egg. The quality is in

no wise injured by the mechanical mishap, but eggs so ruptured are

usually discriminated against by candlers.

In this connection it might be well to speak further of the subject

of "white strength," by which is meant the stiffness or viscosity of

the egg white. The white of an egg is a limpid, clear liquid, but in

the egg of good quality that portion immediately surrounding the

yolk appears to be in a semi-solid mass. The cause of this

appearance is the presence of an invisible network of fibrous

material. By age and mechanical disturbance this network is

gradually broken down and the liquid white separates out. Such a

weak and watery white is usually associated with shrunken eggs.

These eggs will not stand up well or whip into a firm froth and are

thrown in lower grades.

The weakness of the yolk membranes also increases with age, and is

objectionable because the breakage of the yolk is unsightly and

spoils the egg for poaching.

The shrunken egg is most abundant in the fall, when the rising

prices tempt the farmer and grocery man to hold the eggs. This

holding is so prevalent, in fact, that from August to December full

fresh eggs are the exception rather than the rule.

While we have called attention to evaporation as the most pronounced

fault of fall eggs, losses from other causes are greatly increased

by the holding process.

If the eggs are held in a warm place, heat and shrinkage will case

the greatest damage; if held in a cellar, rot, mold, and bad odors

will cause the chief loss.

The loss due to shrunken eggs is not understood nor appreciated by

those outside the trade. Such ignorance is due to the fact that the

shrunken is not so repulsive as the rotten or heated egg. But the

inferiority of the shrunken egg is so well appreciated by the

consumer that high class dealers find it impossible to use them

without ruining their trade. The result is that shrunken eggs are

constantly being sent into the cheaper channels, with the result

that all lower grades of eggs are more depreciated in the fall of

the year than at any other time.

In the classes of spoiled eggs, of which we have thus far spoken,

the proverbial rotten egg has not been considered. The term "rot" in

the egg trade is used to apply to any egg absolutely unfit for food

purposes. But I prefer to confine the term "rotten egg" to the egg

which contains a growth of bacteria.

The normal egg when laid is germ free. But the egg shell is not germ

proof. The pores in the egg shell proper are large enough to admit

all forms of bacteria, but the membrane inside the shell is germ

proof as long as it remains dry. When this membrane becomes moist so

that bacteria may grow in it, these germs of decay quickly grow

through it and contaminate the contents of the egg.

Heat favors the growth of bacteria in eggs and sufficient cold

prevents it, but as bacteria cannot enter without moisture on the

surface of the egg we can consider dampness as the cause of rotten

eggs. Moisture on the shell may come from an external wetting, from

the "sweating" of eggs coming out of cold storage, or by the

prevention of evaporation to such an extent that the external

moisture of the egg thoroughly soaks the membrane. The latter

happens in damp cellars, and when eggs are covered with some

impervious material.

Rotten eggs may be of different kinds, according to the species of

germ that causes the decomposition. The specific kinds of egg

rotting bacteria have not been worked out, but the following three

groups of bacterially infected eggs are readily distinguishable in

the practical work of egg candling.

(1) Black rots. It is probable that many different species of

bacteria cause this form of rotten eggs. The prominent feature is

the formation of hydrogen sulphide gas, which blackens the contents

of the egg, gives the characteristic rotten egg smell and sometimes

causes the equally well known explosion.

(2) Sour eggs or white rots. These eggs have a characteristic sour

smell. The contents become watery, the yolk and the whites mix and

the whole egg is offensive to both eye and nose.

(3) The spot rot. In this the bacterial growth has not contaminated

the whole egg, but has remained near the point of entrance. Such

eggs are readily picked out with the candle, and when broken open

show lumpy adhesions on the inside of the shell. These lumps are of

various colors and appearances. It is probable that these spots are

caused as much by mold as by bacteria, but for practical purposes

the distinction is immaterial.

In practice it is impossible to separate rotten from heated eggs for

the reason that in the typical nest of spoiled eggs found around the

farm, both causes have been at work. Dead chicks will not

necessarily cause the eggs to decay, but many such eggs do become

contaminated by bacteria before they reach the candler, and hence,

as a physician would say, show complications.

The loss of eggs that are actually rotten is not as great as one

might imagine. Perhaps one or two per cent. of the country's egg

crop actually rot, but the expenses of the candling necessitated,

and the lowering of value of eggs that contain even a few rotten

specimens are severe losses.

Moldy or musty eggs are caused by accidentally wet cases or damp

cellars and ice houses. The moldy egg is most frequently a spot rot.

In the musty egg proper the meat is free from foreign organisms, but

has been tainted by the odor of mold growth upon the shell or

packing materials.

The absorption of odors is the most baffling of all causes of bad

eggs. Here the candler, so expert in other points, is usually

helpless. Eggs, by storage in old musty cellars, or in rooms, with

lemons, onions and cheese, may become so badly flavored as to be

seriously objected to by a fancy trade, and yet there is no means of

detecting the trouble without destroying the egg. Such eggs occur

most frequently among the held stock of the fall season.

The Loss Due to Carelessness.

The egg crop of the country, more than ninety-five per cent, of

which originates on the general farm, is subject to immense waste

due to ignorant and careless handling. The great mass of eggs for

sale in our large cities possess to a greater or less degree the

faults we have discussed.

Some idea of the loss due to the present shiftless method of

handling eggs, may be obtained by a comparison of the actual average

prices received for all eggs sold in New York City, and the

wholesale prices quoted by a prominent New York firm dealing in high

grade goods. The contrasted price for the year 1907 are as follows:

Prices at which total goods Wholesale prices for strictly

moved. fresh eggs.

January 25.8 January 42.

February 24.5 February 40.

March 19.3 March 32.

April 16.9 April 30.

May 16.6 May 31.

June 15.5 June 32.

July 15.6 July 35.

August 17.7 August 38.

September 20.7 September 40.

October 21.4 October 42.

November 26.0 November 45.

December 27.7 December 48.

The total values figured by multiplying these prices by the

New York receipts, are as follows:

Amount actually received $23,832,000

Values at quotations for strictly fresh 44,730,000

No one would contend it is possible to bring the entire egg crop of

the country up to the latter value, but the fact that there is a

definite market for eggs of first class quality at almost double the

figures for which the egg crop as a whole is actually sold, is a

point very significant to the ambitious producer of high grade eggs.

Requisites of the Production of High Grade Eggs.

(a) Hens that produce a goodly number of eggs, and at the same time

an egg that is moderately large (average two ounces each). Plymouth

Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Orpingtons, Leghorns, Minorcas

are the varieties which will do this.

(b) Good housing, regular feeding and watering, and above all clean,

dry nests.

(c) Daily gathering of eggs, when the temperature is above 80

degrees, gathering twice a day.

(d) The confining of all broody hens as soon as discovered.

(e) The rejection as doubtful of all eggs found in a nest which was

not visited the previous day. (Such eggs should be used at home

where each may be broken separately).

(f) The placing as soon as gathered of all summer eggs in the

coolest spot available.

(g) The prevention at all times of moisture in any form coming in

contact with the egg's shell.

(h) The selling of young cockerels before they begin to annoy the

hens. Also the selling or confining of old male birds from the time

hatching is over until cool weather in fall.

(i) The using of cracked and dirty, as well as small eggs, at home.

Such eggs if consumed when fresh are perfectly wholesome, but when

marketed are discriminated against and are likely to become an

entire loss.

(j) Keeping eggs away from musty cellars or bad odors.

(k) Keeping the egg as cool and dry as possible while en route to

market.

(l) The marketing of all eggs at least once per week and oftener,

when facilities permit.

(m) The use of strong, clean cases or cartons and good fillers.

CHAPTER XII

HOW EGGS ARE MARKETED

The methods by which the larger number of American eggs pass from

the producer to consumer is as follows:

The eggs are gathered by the farmer with varying regularity and are

brought perhaps on the average of once a week, to the local village

merchant.

This merchant receives weekly quotations from a number of

surrounding egg dealers and at intervals of from two days to two

weeks, ships to such a dealer, by local freight. The dealer buys the

eggs case count, that is, he pays for them by the case regardless of

quality. He then repacks the eggs in new cases and, with the

exception of a period in the early spring, candles them.

This dealer, in turn, receives quotations from city egg houses and

sells to them by wire. He usually ships in carload lots. The city

receiver may also be a jobber who sells to grocers, or he may sell

the car outright to a jobbing house. The jobber re-candles the eggs,

sorting them into a number of grades, which are sold to various

classes of trade. The last link in the chain is the housewife, who

by 'phone or personal call, asks for "a dozen nice fresh eggs."

This most frequently repeated story of the American egg applies

particularly in the case of eggs produced west of the Mississippi

and marketed in the very large cities of the East.

We will now discuss the various steps of the egg trade, pointing out

the reason for the existence of the present methods and their

influence upon quality and consequent value.

The Country Merchant.

The country merchant is the logical business link between the farmer

and the outside world and usually continues to act as the farmers'

buyer and seller until the commodity dealt in becomes of such

importance as to demand more specialized form of marketing. Eggs

being a perishable crop continuously produced, must be marketed at

frequent intervals, and the trips to the general store, necessary to

supply the household needs, offers the only convenient opportunity

for such marketing.

The merchant buys eggs because by doing so he can control his

selling trade.

The farmer trades where he sells his eggs, because it is convenient

to do both errands at one place, and also because he wishes to avoid

affronting the merchant by breaking the established custom of

trading out the amount.

For these reasons the merchant knows that to buy eggs means to sell

goods, and he therefore bids for eggs. His competitors across the

street, and in other towns, also bid for eggs. The effect to the

merchant of lowering the price of his goods or raising the price of

eggs is financially the same. In either case it is the matter of

cutting the prices under the spur of competition. Now, the articles

on which the merchant make his chief profits from the farmers' trade

are dry goods and notions. Such articles are not standardized, but

vary in a manner quite impossible of estimation by the

unsophisticated. On the other hand, eggs are quoted by the dozen,

and all that run may read.

Suppose, for illustration, two merchants in the same town are each

doing a business with a twenty per cent. profit, and are buying eggs

at ten cents and selling for eleven, the cent advance being

sufficient to pay for their labor, incidental loss, and a small

profit. Now one merchant concludes to play for more trade. If he

marks his goods down he would gain some trade, but many people would

fear his goods were cheap. But if he puts up a placard, "Eleven

Cents Paid For Eggs," the farmers will throng his store and never

question the quality of his goods. This move having been successful,

his rival across the street quietly stocks up with a cheaper line of

dry goods, and some fine morning puts out a card, "Twelve Cents For

Eggs." The farm wagons this week will be hitched on the other side

of the street.

The rate of business at ten per cent, being insufficient to maintain

two men in the town, a mutual understanding is gradually brought

about by which the prices of goods sold are worked back to the basis

of twenty per cent, gross profit, but the false price of eggs will

serve to draw the trade from neighboring towns and is therefore

maintained.

As a matter of fact the price paid to farmers for eggs by the

general stores of the Mississippi Valley is frequently one to two

cents above the price at which the storekeeper sells the product.

Allowing the cost of handling, we have a condition prevailing in

which the merchant is handling eggs at from five to ten per cent.

loss, and it stands to reason that he is making up the loss by

adding that per cent. to his profits on his goods. Some of the

effects of this system are:

1--The inflated prices of merchandise is an injustice to the

townspeople and to farmers not selling produce, in fact it amounts

to a taxation of these people for the benefit of the egg producers.

2--The inflated prices of merchant's wares work to his disadvantage

in competition with mail order or out-of-town trade. 3--The farmer

who exchanges eggs for dry goods is not being paid more for his

eggs, save as the tax on the townspeople contributes a little to

that end, but is in the main merely swapping more dollars. 4--The

use of eggs as a drawing card for trade works in favor of inferior

produce, and the loss to the farmer through the lowering of prices

thus caused, is much greater than his gain through the forced

contributions of his neighbors.

The Huckster.

The huckster or peddling wagon which gathers eggs and other produce

directly from the farm, prevail east and south of a line drawn from

Galveston to Chicago through Texarkana, Ark., Springfield, Mo., and

St. Louis. North and west of this line the huckster is almost

unknown.

The huckster wagons may be of the following types:

1--An extension of the local grocery store, trading merchandise for

eggs. 2--An independent traveling peddler. 3--A cash dealer who buys

his load, and hauls it to the nearest city where he peddles the

produce from house to house or sells it to city grocers. 4--A

representative of the local produce buyer. 5--A fifth style of egg

wagon does not visit the farm at all, but is a system of rural

freight service run by a produce buyer for the purpose of collecting

the eggs from country stores.

As far as the quality of product and advantage to the farmer is

concerned, the fourth style of huckster is preferable. This style

exists chiefly in Indiana and Michigan, and the better settled

regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. The writer found hucksters in

southern Michigan working on a profit of one-half a cent per dozen,

while in the mountains of Tennessee he found a huckster paying ten

cents for eggs that were worth eighteen cents in Chattanooga, and

twenty-three cents in New York.

The huckster scheme of gathering eggs would seemingly be a means of

obtaining good eggs because of the advantage of regularity of

collection, but in reality it does not always work out that way.

While it must be admitted that in the isolated regions of the Middle

and Southern States the presence of the huckster is the only factor

that makes egg selling possible, it is also true that the peddling

huckster of those regions usually disregards the first principles of

handling perishable products. He makes a week's trip in sun and rain

with his load of produce, with the result that the quality of his

summer eggs is about as low as can be found.

In the more densely populated region with a twice or thrice a week,

or even daily service, the huckster egg becomes the finest farm

grown egg in the market.

The second step in the usual scheme of egg marketing is the sale of

eggs collected by the small storekeeper to the produce man or

shipper.

The Produce Buyer.

Throughout the Mississippi Valley there are wholesale produce houses

at all important railroad junctions. A typical house will ship the

produce of one to three counties. These houses, once a week or

oftener, send out postal card quotations. These quotations read so

much per case, and are usually case count, with a reservation,

however, of the privilege to reject or charge loss on goods that are

utterly bad. Each grocery receives quotations from one to a dozen

such houses, and perhaps also from commission firms in the nearest

city. The highest of these quotations gets the shipment.

The buyer repacks the eggs and usually candles them, the strictness

of the grading depending upon the intended destination. The loss in

candling is generally kept account of, but is seldom charged back to

the shipper. The egg man wants volume of business, and if he

antagonizes a shipper by charging up his loss, the usual result will

be the loss of trade. So the buyer estimates his probable loss and

lowers his price enough to cover it.

By loss off, or "rots out," is meant the subtraction of the bad eggs

from the number to be paid for. Buying on a candled or graded basis,

usually not only means rots cut, but that a variation of the price

is made for two or more grades of merchantable eggs.

Much discussion prevails among the western egg buyers as to whether

eggs should be bought loss off or case count. Loss off buying seems

to be more desirable and just, but in practice is fraught with

difficulties.

If the loss off buyer feels he is losing business, he may instruct

his candler to grade more closely, which means he will pay less.

Whether done with honest or dishonest intention, the buyer thus sets

the price to be paid after he has the goods in his own hands, and

this is an obviously difficult commercial system.

Where the buyer in one case changes the grading basis to protect

himself, there are probably ten cases where the eggs really deserve

the loss charged; but the tenth chance gives the seller an

opportunity to nurse his loss with the belief that he has been

robbed by the buyer. Such an uncertain feeling is disagreeable, and

the results are that where one or two competing egg dealers buys

loss off, and the other case count, the case count man will get most

of the business.

The case count method being the path of least resistance, the loss

off system can only succeed where there is some factor that

overcomes the disinclination of a shipper to let the other man set

the price. This factor may be: 1st--An exceptional reputation of a

particular firm for honesty and fair dealing. 2d--Exceptional

opportunities for selling fancy goods, enabling the loss off buyer

to pay much higher rates for good stuff. 3d--A condition that

prevails in the South in the summer, where the losses are so heavy

that the dealers will not take the risk involved in case count

buying. 4th--Some sort of a monopoly.

A monopoly for enforcing the loss off system of buying has been

brought about in some sections of the West by agreement among egg

dealers. In such cases the usual experience has been that some one

would get anxious for more business, and begin quoting case count,

the result being that he would get the business of the disgruntled

shippers in his section. When one buyer begins quoting case count,

the remainder rapidly follow suit and case count buying is quickly

re-established.

The City Distribution of Eggs.

In name, city egg dealers are usually commission houses, but in

practice the majority of large lots of eggs are now bought by

telegraph and the prices definitely known before shipment.

In the larger cities eggs are dealt in by a produce board of trade.

Such exchanges frequently have rules of grading and an official

inspector. This gives stability to egg dealing and largely solves

the problem of uncertainty as to quality, so annoying to the country

buyer. In the city even, where official grading is not resorted to,

personal inspection of the lot by the buyer is practical, and one

may know what he is getting.

In many cases, especially in smaller cities, the receiver is the

jobber and sells to the grocers. In larger cities the receiver sells

to a firm who makes a business of selling them to groceries,

restaurants, etc.

The jobber grades the eggs as the trade demands. In a western city

this may mean two grades--good and bad; in New York, it may mean

seven or eight grades, and the finer of these ones being packed in

sealed cartons, perhaps each egg stamped with the dealer's brand.

The city retailer of eggs include grocers, dairies, butcher shops,

soda fountains, hotels, restaurants and bakeries. The soda fountain

trade and the first-class hotel are among the high bidder for

strictly first-class eggs. Many such institutions in eastern cities

are supplied directly from large poultry farms. The figures at which

such eggs are purchased are frequently at a given premium above the

market quotation, or a year round contract price for a given number

of eggs per week. This premium over common farm eggs may range from

one or two cents in western cities, to five to twenty cents in New

York and Boston. An advance of ten cents over the quotation for

extras or a year round contract price of thirty-five cents per

dozen, might be considered typical of such arrangements in New York

City.

Some of the larger chain grocers in New York City are in the market

for strictly fresh eggs and have even installed buying departments

in charge of expert egg men.

The great bulk of eggs move through the channels of the small

restaurant, bakery and grocery. In the small cities of the Central

West the grocer handles eggs at a margin of one to three cents. In

the South and farther West the margin is two to seven cents, the

retail price always being in the even nickel. In the large eastern

city there exists the custom unknown in the West of having two or

more grades of eggs for sale in the same store. All eggs offered for

sale are claimed by the salesman to be "strictly fresh" or the

"best," and yet these eggs may vary if it be April from fifteen

cents to forty cents, or if in December from thirty cents to

seventy-five cents per dozen. The New York grocers' profit is from

two to five cents on cheap eggs, but runs higher on high grade eggs,

frequently reach twenty cents a dozen and sometimes going as high as

forty cents for very fancy stock.

City retailing is by far the most expensive item in the marketing of

eggs. As an illustration of the profits of the various handlers of

eggs might be as follows:

Paid the farmer in Iowa $.15

Profit of country store .00

Gross profit of shipper .00-3/4

Freight to New York .01-1/2

Gross profit of receiver .00-1/2

Gross profit of jobber .01-1/2

Loss from candling .01-1/2

Gross profit of retailer .04-1/2

-------

Cost to consumer $.25

The cheapest grade of eggs sold are taken by bakeries and for

cooking purposes at restaurants. When cooked with other food an egg

may have its flavor so covered up that a very repulsive specimen may

be used. Measures have been frequently taken by city boards of

health to stop the sale of spot rots and other low grade eggs. The

great difficulty with such regulations is that they are difficult of

enforcement because no line of demarcation can be drawn as in the

case of adulterated or preserved products.

That embryo chicks and bacterially contaminated eggs are consumed by

the million cannot be doubted, but the individual examination of

each egg sold would be the only way in which the food inspectors can

prevent their use. The egg from the well-kept flock whose subsequent

handling has been conducted with intelligence and dispatch is the

only egg whose "purity" is assured with or without law. The

encouragement of such production and such handling is the proper

sphere of governmental regulations in regard to this product.

Cold Storage of Eggs.

The supply of eggs ranges from month to month, the heavy season of

production centering about April and the lightest run being in

November. The cold storage men begin storing eggs in March or April

and continue to store heavily until June, after which time the

quality deteriorates and does not keep well in storage. This storage

stock begins to move out in September and should be cleaned up by

December. Great loss may result if storage eggs are held too long.

The effect of the storage business is to even up the prices for the

year. The reduction of the exceedingly high winter prices is

unfortunate for those who are skilled enough to produce many eggs at

that season of the year, but on a whole the storage business adds to

the wealth-producing powers of the hen, for it serves to increase

the annual consumption of eggs and prevents eggs from becoming a

drug on the market during the season of heavy production.

March and April eggs are, in spite of a long period of storage, the

best quality of storage stock. This is accounted for by the fact

that owing to cooler weather and rising price eggs leave the farm in

the best condition at this season of the year.

Because eggs are spoiled by hard freezing, they must be kept at a

higher temperature than meat and butter. Temperatures of from 29

degrees to 30 degrees F. are used in cold storage of eggs. At such

temperatures the eggs, if kept in moist air, become moldy or musty.

To prevent this mustiness the air in a first class storage room is

kept moderately dry. This shrinks the eggs, though much more slowly

than would occur without storage.

The growth of bacteria in cold storage is practically prevented, but

if bacteria are in the eggs when stored they will lie dormant and

begin activity when the eggs are warmed up.

Of the cold storage egg as a whole we can say it is a wholesome food

product, though somewhat inferior in flavor and strength of white to

a fresh egg. The cold storage egg can be very nearly duplicated in

appearance and quality by allowing eggs to stand for a week or two

in a dry room. Cold storage eggs, when in case lots, can be told by

the candler because of the uniform shrinkage, the presence of mold

on cracked eggs and perhaps the occasional presence of certain kinds

of spot rots peculiar to storage stock, but the absolute detection

of a single cold storage egg, so far as the writer knows, is

impossible.

It may be further said that with the present prevailing custom of

holding eggs without storage facilities for the fall rise of price,

eggs placed in cold storage in April are frequently superior to the

current fall and early winter receipts. Cold storage eggs are

generally sold wholesale as cold storage goods, but are retailed as

"eggs." The fall eggs offered to the consumer cover every imaginable

variation in quality and the poorest ones sold may be a cold storage

product, or they may not be.

The Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of

Agriculture has recently announced the finding of certain crystals

in the yolks of cold storage eggs that are not present in the fresh

stock. This finding of a laboratory method of detecting cold storage

stock was at first taken to be a great discovery. Further

investigation, however, indicates that the crystal mentioned forms

as the egg ages and that the rate of formation varies with the

individual eggs and probably also with the temperature, so that

while crystals may indicate an aged egg, the discovery only means

that the microscopist in the laboratory can now do in a half hour

what any egg candler in his booth can do in ten seconds.

At the present writing (February, 1909) there has been much talk of

laws against the sale of cold storage eggs as fresh. The Federal

Pure Food Commission, under the general law against misbranding,

have made one such prosecution. Many States have agitated such laws

but little or nothing has been done. I find that the idea of such a

law is quite popular, especially with poultrymen. Contrary to

popular opinion, the cold storage men and larger egg dealers are not

opposed to the law. The people that are hit are the small dealers

and especially the city grocers. These fellows buy the eggs at

wholesale storage prices and sell them at retail prices for fresh,

thus making excessive profits but cutting down the amount of the

sales. This lessens the demand for storage stock and lowers the

wholesale price. This is the reason the wholesaler and warehouse man

are in favor of the law.

We may all grant that the opportunity given the small dealers to

grab quick gains and in so doing hurt the trade ought to be

abolished. But how are we to do it? "Have State and Federal branding

of the cases as they go into or come out of storage," says one--an

excellent plan, to be sure by which the grocers could buy one case

of fresh, eggs and a back room full of storage goods and do Elijah's

flour barrel trick to perfection.

Clearly government inspection and stamping of each egg is the only

method that would be effective and the consideration of what this

means turns the whole matter into a joke. The official inspection

now maintained by the boards of trade of the larger cities may be

extended and the producers, dealers and consuming public may be

educated to appreciate quality in eggs, as they have been in dairy

products. City and State laws may also be made which will taboo the

sale of spot eggs or eggs that will float on water. Meanwhile, a

great opportunity is open for the man who has high grade eggs for

sale, whether he be producer or tradesman.

Many eggs that would not do for ordinary storage are preserved by

direct freezing. These eggs are broken and carefully sorted and

placed in large cans and then frozen. Such a product is disposed of

to bakers, confectioners and others desiring eggs in large

quantities. Another method of preserving eggs is by evaporation.

Evaporated or dried egg is, weight considered, about the most

nourishing food product known. The chief value of such an article

lies in provisioning inaccessible regions. There is no reason,

however, why this product should not become a common article of diet

during the season of high prices of eggs. Dried eggs can be eaten as

custards, omelets, or similar dishes.

Preserving Eggs Out of Cold Storage.

Occasional articles have been printed in agricultural papers calling

attention to the fact that the cold storage men were reaping vast

profits which rightfully belonged to the farmer. Such writers advise

the farmer to send his own eggs to the storage house or to preserve

them by other means.

As a matter of fact the business of storing eggs has not of late

years been particularly profitable, there being severe losses during

several seasons; Even were the profit of egg storing many times

greater than they are the above advice would still be unwise, for

the storing, removing and selling of a small quantity of eggs would

eat up all possible profit.

The only reliable methods of preserving eggs outside of cold storage

are as follows:

Liming: Make a saturated solution of lime, to which salt may be

added, let it settle, dip off the clear liquid, put the eggs in

while fresh, keep them submerged in the liquid and keep the liquid

as cold as the available location will permit.

Water glass: This is exactly the same as liming except that the

solution used is made by mixing ten per cent. of liquid water glass

or sodium silicate with water.

Liming eggs was formerly more popular than it is to-day. There are

still two large liming plants in this country and several in Canada.

In Europe both lime and water glass are used on a more extensive

scale.

All limed or water glassed eggs can be told at a glance by an

experienced candler. They pop open when boiled. When properly

preserved they are as well or better flavored than storage stock,

but the farmer or poultryman will make frequent mistakes and thus

throw lots of positively bad eggs on the market. These eggs must be

sold at a low price themselves, and by their presence cast suspicion

on all eggs, thus tending to suppress the price paid to the

producers. The farmers' efforts to preserve eggs has in this way

acted as a boomerang, and have in the long run caused more loss than

gain to the producers.

For the poultryman with his own special outlet for high grade goods,

the use of pickling or cold storage is generally not to be

considered for fear of hurting his trade. Any scheme that would help

to overcome the difficulty of getting sufficient fresh eggs to

supply such customers in the season of scarcity would be of great

advantage. The proposition of pickling a limited number of eggs and

selling them for "cooking" purposes, explaining just what they are,

ought to offer something of a solution, although, to the writer's

knowledge, it has not been done.

Improved Methods of Marketing Farm-Grown Eggs.

The loss to the farmers of this country from the careless handling

of eggs is something enormous. No great or sudden change in this

state of affairs can be brought about, but a few points on how this

loss may be averted will not be out of order.

Numerous efforts have recently been made in western states to

prevent the sale of bad eggs by law. Minnesota began this work by

arresting several farmers and dealers. The parties invariably

pleaded guilty. A number of other States followed the example of

Minnesota in challenging the sale of rotten eggs, but few

prosecutions were made.

Such laws mean well enough, but the only efficient means of

enforcing them would be to have food inspectors who are trained as

practical candlers.

The present usefulness of the laws is in calling the attention of

the farmer to the mistake that he may be carelessly committing, and

in placing over him a fear of possible disgrace in case of arrest

and prosecution.

The weakness of the law is the difficulty of its enforcement because

of the number of violations, and the difficulty of drawing distinct

lines in regard to which eggs are to be considered unlawful.

Education of the farmer as to the situation is, of course, the

surest means of preventing the loss, but the education of ten

millions of farmers is easier to suggest than to execute. The most

effective plan of education would be the introduction of a method of

buying eggs similar to the one in vogue in Denmark, in which every

producer is paid strictly in accordance with the quality of his

eggs.

With our complicated system involving five to six dealers between

the producer and the consumer, such a system is well nigh

impossible. With the introduction of co-operative buying or the

community system of production, paying for quality becomes entirely

possible.

For enterprising farming communities, the following plans offer a

cure for the evil of general store buying that take good and bad

alike and causes the worthy farmer to suffer for the carelessness

and dishonesty of his neighbor.

First: The encouragement of the cash buying of produce, and, if

possible, the candling of all eggs with proper deduction for loss.

Second: The buying of eggs by co-operative creameries. The greatest

difficulty in this has been the opposition of the merchants, who

through numerous ways available in a small town, may retaliate and

injure the creamery patronage to an extent greater than the newly

installed egg business will repay.

Third: The agreement of the merchants to turn all egg buying over to

a single produce buyer. This has been successfully done in a few

instances, but there are not many towns in which those interested

will stick to such an agreement. The worst fault with this plan is

that the moment the egg buyer is given a monopoly he is tempted to

lower the farmer's prices for the purpose of increasing his own

profits.

Fourth: A modification of the above scheme is the case in which the

produce buyer is on a salary and in the employment of the merchants.

This scheme has been successfully carried into effect in some

Nebraska towns. It may be the ultimate solution of the egg buying in

the West. It eliminates the temptation of the buyer to use his

privilege of monopoly to fatten his own pocket-book. The weakness of

the plan is that a salaried man's efficiency in the close bargaining

necessary to sell the goods is inferior to that of the man trading

for himself. Other difficulties are: Getting a group of merchants

who will live up to such an agreement; the farmers object to driving

to two places; the competition of other towns; the merchants'

realization that, the farmer with cash in his pocket or a check good

at all stores, is not as certain a trader as one standing, egg

basket on arm, before the counter; and last, and most convincing,

the merchant's further realization that any fine Saturday morning,

with eggs selling at fifteen cents at the produce house, he may

stick out a card "Sixteen Cents Paid for Eggs" and make more money

in one day than his competitors did all week.

Fifth: Co-operative egg buying by the farmers themselves. This has

been discussed in a previous chapter. It is all right in localities

where the business is big enough to warrant it and the farmers are

intelligent and enthusiastic to back it up and stick to it.

The High Grade Egg Business.

There are many excellent opportunities for men of moderate capital

and ability in the high grade egg trade. The produce business on its

present line, either at the country end or at the city end, is as

open as any well-known form of business enterprise can be. The

chances of success for a man new to the trade will be better,

however, if he can find a niche in the business where he may crowd

in and establish himself before the old firms realize what is up.

The proposition of buying high grade eggs from producers and selling

direct to consumers is a proposition of this kind.

The little game of existence is chiefly one of apeing our betters

and strutting before the lesser members of the flock. The large

cities are full of people in search of some way to display their

superior wealth, taste and exclusiveness. If an ingenious dealer

takes a dozen eggs from common candled stock, places them in a blue

lined box and labels them "Exquisite Ovarian Deposital," he can sell

quite a few of them at a long price, but the game has its limits.

Now, let this man secure a truly high grade article from reliable

producers, teach his customers the points that actually distinguish

his eggs from common stock, and he can get not only the sucker trade

above referred to but a more satisfactory and permanent trade from

that class of people who are willing to pay for genuine superiority

but whose ears have not quite grown through their hats.

An express messenger running out of St. Louis became interested in

the egg trade. He arranged with a few country friends to ship him

their eggs. These he candled in his house cellar and began selling

them to a limited trade in the wealthy section of the city. At first

he delivered the eggs himself. This was in the World's Fair year of

1904. In 1908 he did a $100,000 worth of business and his type of

business shows a much better percentage of profit than that of the

ordinary type of dealer.

In Chicago, one of the large dairy companies established an egg

department and placed a young man in charge of it. The eggs in this

case are not bought of farmers but are secured from country produce

buyers whom the Chicago company have encouraged to educate their

farmers to bring in a high grade of goods. These people buy their

eggs in Tennessee in the winter and in Minnesota in the summer, thus

getting the best eggs the year round. They sell by wagon on regular

routes. The business is growing nicely and pays good profits.

Other similar concerns are operating in Chicago and other large

cities. They are not numerous, however, and there is room for more.

The reason the business has not been overdone is chiefly because of

the difficulty of getting sufficiently really high grade eggs in the

season of scarcity. Southern winter eggs are destined to relieve

this situation more and more.