Show CREAMERY AS MARKET FOR FARMERS EGGS 1 AN a n bijl 1 ol 01 I 1 ln proper method of grading eggs egge ahl te and brown ones one packed separately prepared by the tha united states department of agriculture because of the methods ot or handling and marketing eggs lit in common uso use among the general farmers who furnish tho the great bulk built of the supply it ta Is not often that tho the producer can get the full benefit of 0 the high prices tor for strictly fresh eggs during the fall and winter months it Is customary in many sections of the country for the tha farmer to take to town at irregular intervals Inte ryals a basket of eggs agga some of W which aich may be clean and some dirty some absolutely fresh and some distinctly below the highest grade he la is usually paid by number not quality and thus gets no additional profit from the eggs that are really first class the village merchant moreover who takes these eggs Is not usually in ill a position to make regular shipments to large markets tho the result of all this la is that before beto rothe the eggs reach the ultimate consumer they have deteriorated to such an extent that they are ara not hot of a quality to command the highest prices this waste can be to a great extent at least remedied by a system of marketing eggs through creameries crea meries merles it Is not necessary for the creamery to be a operative cooperative co one for even a privately owned establishment will naturally be desirous of adding to tho the prosperity of the neighborhood and to oblige as tar far as possible its patrons for this reason it should content itself with a moderate profit on the eggs title this was the case with one privately owned creamery in the tha northern part of minnesota which may be taken as aa an excellent example of the possibilities of marketing eggs in this way var A short time ago about farmers were selling their eggs egg s through this agency they were scattered over a wide territory one man even driving 14 miles before the creamery consented to market their eggs for them each farmer was required to sign the following agreement for the privilege of selling eggs to the creamery company and getting a market established for guaranteed fresh eggs 1 I the undersigned undersigner under signed hereby pledge myself to comply in every way with the following rules 1 I agree to deliver eggs at the creamery that will not be to exceed eight days old and to be picked in gathered twice every day eggs to be of uniform size no undersize or oversize eggs eggs to be clean and to be kept in a cool dry cellar brown eggs to be put in one carton and white in another and so marked each egg to be stamped on the side and carton to be stamped on tho the top 1 I agree not to sell any eggs that I 1 have marked with the creamery com banys tira trademark demark to anyone else but the creamery company and to return stamps and other supplies that have been furnished in case came I 1 should decide to discontinue to sell eggs to the creamery company several tn this agreement are worthy of notice in the first place eight days may not eriov seem sufficiently often in tho the majority ot pla cesto besto do de liver the digs eggs butche but abe nights i in minnesota ain even in summer are usually cool and this together with the gathering twice a day and the storage in dry cool cellars was vas found sufficient sulli clent to keep the eggs in good condition it by no means follows however that this would be possible elsewhere the brown and white eggs were separated because it was found that this added to the attractiveness of the packages and secondly beca because use it encouraged the keeping of hens which lay white eggs during the spring months tho the owner of the creamery paid one cent more for white eggs than for brown on the ground that in the future he could obtain more for them lit in the market and that he be wished tr to stimulate the keeping of one class ot of chickens in order to insure a more uniform market the stamping of the eggs Is important the stamp contained the name of the creamery the creamery brand nd ind a serial number for each producer thus in case of 0 t any carelessness or failure to maintain th the e proper quality jt it was possible to tra trace ce the product back to the individual producer and lay tho the lame salame where it belonged each farmer was furnished with a supply of cartons cartona each 0 at which held one Us dozen birgs aud were so shaped that they could bo be packed in a regular 30 dozen egg case and sh shipped ippei from tho the creamery to market by express tho labor and cyst of handling tho the eggs at tho the creamery were thus thua reduced to a minimum they were never candled because the farnsler wn waa un der obligations to bring in only bood eggs and failure to do so BO was rehard ed as sufficient lelent ground for the cream erys refusing to handle the eggs of tho the offender in the future in the particular case described tho the eggs were shipped to a largo large grocery store in duluth minn which was already taking butter from the creamery this store was able to sell tho the eggs to its customers for several cents a dozen more than the prevailing prices tor for other eggs it II Is interesting to note also that the buyers barimo accustomed to the stamp on the eggs and when by accident two amies reached the tha store unstamped thre thore was a little difficulty lit in disposing of nf them the increased profit to the farmers through this method of marketing was not as noticeable during the spring when eggs are plentiful as when they were scarce during the winter tha difference was sometimes as great as ten cents a dozen and when this par nicular creamery was visited one december the farmers were wera receiving 40 cents a dozen for their eggs at this very time farmers in the nearby village were paid 26 25 cents a dozen with the increased prices the production rose rapidly also before the creamery took up the tu marketing of 0 the eggs the supply received by th the local storekeepers way hardly more than sufficient for the local demand later the creamery paid out in one year nearly to producers of eggs nearly all of which were shipped away this accounts for the fact that the local merchants who were at first inclined to look with disfavor upon the innovation soon saw that the increased returns to the cOmm community meant increased profits to them even dually there Is no reason why a cyst system c similar to the one just described should not be adopted in many other localities local conditions will of course require certain changes but the fundamental principle will remain fresh eggs shipped regularly in good condition to city markets are certain to earn greater profits tor for the producers than those which are allowed to deteriorate on the road from the tha farm to the consumer finally the profits from its egg business may well malie make the establishment of a creamery possible when it could not be run tor for dairy products alone |