Show operative cooperative co dative 9 farm products marketing it irs Is done in europe and may alay be done in america to the profit of both s farmer and consumer by MATTHEW a 8 DUDGEON ff 44 4 copyright 1114 western newspaper L KOO EGGS AND OPERATION cooperation CO hoynos Tto Vo ynos county limerick ireland As A housewife what would you think of a plan of haild handling lIng eggs which roald would mako make eggs boiled with the shed on always available for tho the table vow would you liko like to feel euro sure that say egg gb in your basket could be b dropped into a dottla of hot wib certainty that it would COMO out dut a palatable ablo egg BS and not a animal product represent ing tile period of transition from egg to chicken when you buy your eggs at the how would you liko like it it if you could bo be ns as euro sure that they were fresh sad ad palatable ablo as you would bo be if your hens had laid them yesterday wd and you yourself had taken them from tho the neat dent and placed them in the Idt then now kow if the tales that they are tell 1 ing hero in ireland aud and denmark and eleo chero abroad aro are true a proper of the egg producing in n would give to eggs a definite uniform form quality here uncertainty as to quality has been eliminated and operation cooperation co has brought ion inspection and branding which bich render every operative cooperative co tive egg a strictly fresh egg the claim Is too that in addition to giving lying you strictly fresh eggs ol ai operation will give chom to you at A cost no greater chun chan tho the present cost coa of ordinary om J from the farmers standpoint if it you took look at it from the stand slat int of tho the farmer who has the fresh eggs la in bis his nest he ought to be anxious to know how he can hurry these eggs to market before they get and are worthless ho lie Is li also interested in getting a market that supplies a steady all the year around demand for eggs for unfortunately beas have a habit of laying the most beggs hen the price is fit lowest A farmer must have a market when this tamo comes and so a little party of us americans american have come over bore hure to see if it 0 fit anything that can be asod lo 10 amen to help the american fanner and the american consumer we are also to denmark bel del slum sturn and germany to see if ft co compera chem lon in those countries Is doing what ds claimed for it to see if it co opera uon tion can bo be adopted aud adapted to american needs operation cooperation co market for egg eggs the irish operation cooperation co egg market ing jaso association clation is primarily for the of securing a good profitable market for eggs the market must be reached promptly the eggs must not pass through too many hands they ey must not be shipped into a die di lant rity alty then halt half way back across atho country as la Is done with some jann larm products in id america ady ilbe time eggs that start as strictly fresh have gone on a journey lik ethis Is and arrive at their final destination ti they are no longer strictly they are simply eggs the operative cooperative co egg marketing as pA tation bero here in ireland soon found out that to successfully market their eggs they must find a market not too distant they must ibbia by the most speedy and direct route and they must so care for the es lurlne the shipment as to prevent the deterioration acte that comes within even eve a 0 few days under unfavorable conditions eions in short there Is a double reason for direct marketing of eggs the first rn in that any roundabout andl reel marketing costs the consumer money and is an element in fixing the cost emt of jiving the second reason az that this long drawn dravin out of mir kotin renders this particular product unmarketable when the mar fret to finally reached thus co opera tive give egg associations are doubly de do ei quality in eggs after the direct marketing route was established operative cooperative co egg associations still found that eggs which were ere not strictly fresh when delly ered cred to the association could not be flold sold as an strictly fresh no matter how rapidly and directly they wore rushed to market the managers were compelled to adopt very harsh measures mea eurs in testing eggs delivered to them the eggs must not only bo be fresh feut but they must look fresh in some idee moreover the people want brown lbrown figga others will buy nothing tui pure puro white eggs in some markets the small eggs will sell almost as veil well as large eggs in others none but the large ones apply in some markets too in fact in most nur kR tg the eggs must not only be fresh and look fresh bat but they must have a certificate of character attached this may take tho the forro form of a guaranty or it may be imply simply the brand date or number of the ass association ocla itself dut but the purchaser soon learns not to buy eggs that are an not vouched for this cooperative opera tiro association also takes note of bizo size in bu ing eggs and in selling tb aby y find that grad gradually jally the public Is to appreciating that a dozen of big f fresh resh eggs are worth more than a dozen small eggs anat a pound and a half balf of eggs Is worth more than a pound and a quarter by offering more money for big eggs they are inducing the producers to breed for size of eggs as well as for number how the irish market eggs we find here in foynes a good 11 illustration of an egg marketing association cia tion it Is representative of many others like it the association here has built up a simple business system that has accomplished three desired things first the farmer delivers a good quantity of good eggs second be he gets good prices third the cat city man gets good eggs at a reasonable price their system Is not a complex one tt it baa has no red tape about it but Is simple direct common sense a system that would work in any village in america provided only that there aare cr hens to lay the eggs up to within the last decade rural ireland failed sadly of prosperity in many sections the farms were too small for extensive grain and even for dairying except upon a very small scale even eyen the smallest farms however had room upon them for hens ben aud hens did well in ireland how it was organized and operated the irish agricultural organization society Is an association formed for the purpose of helping rural com communities munt tie to organized their business and marketing processes sir horace plunkett an agricultural statesman if it there ever was one Is at the bead head of this society this association discovered that in the neighborhood of foynes there were many bens hens but that the farmers were getting little profit from them because the eggs were not hurried to market speedily enough were not tested and were not graded and consequently the fanner farmer received a very low price for his eggs many blany cities on the other band hand were suffering because they were getting poor eggs so it was suggested that a operative cooperative co egg buying association be formed at foynes A man who understood der stood the marketing of eggs as ell as the testing of eggs and something of the raising of chickens and poultry was put in charge of the organization and a small store room was rented the farmer was required to deliver eggs three times every week he lie must gather every egg from the nest the day tt it was laid his nests must be kept clean he ile must kep the eggs when gathered in a cool place he must bring in his eggs en ca a certain day when it was as arranged to have enough eggs from other farmers brought in to make a fair sized shipment the eggs after having been heen tested were gradford as 0 to o size and ct color lor and tho the man who bad had been placed in charge shipped them to a eket known to him guaranteeing thim to be strictly fresh calling attention to the grading which had bad been done the farmers were surprised surp to find that a price several cents higher thus than that which they had previously obtained for eggs raised in that community was at once paid and that consequently their eggs were bringing them more than they had ever brought them before when the farmer delivered the eggs he was not at first paid in he simply became a partner with the others lu 1 1 the marketing venture later it became the practice to pay about the birket price for eggs when they delivered and later this price wais wa supplemented ent 0 d b by y a division us of t profits in this way it was aas possible to start the organization without any capital stock it waa was agreed however that a small portion of the profits be set let aside to make up a reserve fund and thus a small capital las been gradually accumulated more eggs laid it soon came about that not only all the farmers in the community were viere furnishing all sill their to the asko asso clat elation fon but they were saving saying their pullets and accumulating a larger number of hen hens to produce the eggs for which they were receiving so bood a price the city folk are helped for more good eggs reach them and reach them in belter better condition it was deemed wise to enlarge the territory covered by the association and three or tour four substations tor for collecting eggs were established at each of these sub substations stations the egg j brought in are am carefully tested and atler after having been packed picked are forwarded to foynes to become a part of a larger shipment to an english market the eggs ecot sent in by each collecting I 1 substation are kept wa separate parate and test ed separately eo to that if any local sub staton take takes any bad eggs and for ward them to the he association at foynes it ie Is cr arged back with all bad eggs found in the shipment in this particular association it Is not deemed best beat to brand the eggs them selves but every case Is marked so that the bad eggs can always bo be traced back to their origin there Is also back of every egg the guaranty of the not only this but a mere glance at the eggs themselves shows their class the eggs in one case are all of tho the same size of the same color and all have the fresh surface which cannot be preserved if it eggs are ions long stored or much handled the irish wholesale society the irish wholesale society Is a central association formed chiefly for the purpose of assisting the local or in marketing larm farm produce it Is a federation of local operative cooperative co societies it has headquarters at dub lin and Is managed by shrewd capable men they understand the marketing game thoroughly and have many correspondents at home and abroad they are often able to foresee and prepare for coming demands and are always able to give valuable suggestions as to ben hen and where here produce can be best disposed of each week this central society out to concerns like that at foynes letters of advice giving prices and probable points to which shipments are to be made it will be readily understood that with a skilled marketing man in charge neither time nor eggs are wasted in shipping to markets which are already flooded wita eggs the manager ha has correspondents and business connections which insure him against any such losses when the eggs start he be knows exactly where they are going knows exactly who Is to take them knows that there Is not to be a flood of other eggs in with his and knows that he will receive the top market price for every egg sent what the society does last year this foynes association marketed dozen eggs the total expense of handling alt these eggs and conducting the affair of the association amounted to less ess than one quarter of a cent per ozen including weight from substations sub stations drayage postage rent and all other disburse men menu the association has done so well with the eggs that the members have asked tir manager to market other farm products chiefly poultry honey and butter while the association does not emphasize these other features the honey and butter are handled as advantageously and as an profitably for ite its members as are the eggs last year the members also called upon the association to purchase fuel for them since they found that coal was unreasonably high and difficult to get last year therefore the association not only marketed t the produce of its members but assisted in procuring cheap fuel for them prices received on the average the farmer receives about twenty four cents per dozen for bis his eggs net the consumer in eug eng land or else elsewhere more or less lese distant is of course required to pay a slightly advanced price but tue increased price to the consumer never exceeds seven or cents and nd Is generally much less this thin relatively small increase of price include fret freight ht marketing expenses retailers profits etc in this way the price to the consumer is to never an one it has been found too that this cooperative association furnishes a steady demand for eggs so far as the farmer Is concerned it if the manager discovers di dl coers through bis his correspondence or through the I 1 A 0 8 S that one market Is la glutted another s searched for and found seldom seldon has the manager failed to find some market where there Is demand for eggs of the grade furnished by the asso cia tion in any event no egg is in wasted every one reaches the consumer la in good condition notwithstanding our loyalty to america wo we are compelled to admire this irish oysten of operation cooperation co and to admit it surpasses our american methods of business it ii in more economical of time anil anti the farmer gets better price prices and the city man keta gets better egg eggs so that wo ca can n conclude that it benefit benefits ba bh farmer fat katr and city man dut bin the test feature of it Is that bore there Is a system that Is we well I 1 I 1 adopted to the need needs of the th american people copyright 1914 western bot |