Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 239, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1915 — FARMERS CAN RAISE PRICES FOR EGGS. [ARTICLE]

FARMERS CAN RAISE PRICES FOR EGGS.

Organization to Insure Freshness and Cleanliness Is All That Is Needed. Farmers do not get enough for their products, but in the language of a well known advertisement, "There’s a Reason.” The Missouri State Poultry Experiment station has gone into the field to show the farmer, who pays the freight, and convince him of the fact that he could help to save several million dollars’ loss in bad eggs by handling them properly on the farm. Many farmers throughout Missouri have heeded the advice of the station and produced infertile eggs during the summer. But the fact that the merchants continue to buy eggs, case count, and do not give the farmer the benefit of his quality, makes it a discouraging proposition and he fails to see the advantage of marketing sterile eggs and marketing them often, if he does not get a better price than his neighbor, who sells any old eggs at the same price he gets. It is necessary to separate the sheep from the goats and do this by means of organization. Recently egg circles were organized at Arcola, Dadeville and Hampton, in Dade county. The farmers who are members of these organizations are going to grade their eggs right on the farms and sell guaranteed eggs. There will not be any loss from bad eggs, for they will not have to pay express to market on rotten eggs; they will not have to pay for candling their eggs, for the cases required in hauling bad eggs to market or for the drayman’s time and team which hauls the eggs of the careless farmer to the river to be destroyed. The big advantage of these organizations is that when better prices are received the farmer becomes convinced that better methods will pay and he will heed the advice to own better stock, build better houses and will get eggs the year round to supply his trade. There Is this big drawback In beginning this worfc, the fanners have mixed flocks and their eggs are not uniform in size or color. This organization work immediately convinces the farmer of the necessity for owning standard-bred fowls, when he sees his neighbor bring in a case of 30 dozen eggs that will grade in New York city as "near-by henneries” while his eggs can be given no classification better than "Westerns.” Naturally In this work the fellow who has the uniform product is going to get the best price and he deserves it. Immediately after the meetings held in Dade county there was a big demand for standard-bred poultry, and a demand for information on how to care for flocks which produce eggs the year round.