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.
Another great difficulty with a plan that attempts to buy eggs directly from the producer is that premium offered on the goods tempts the farmer to go out and buy up eggs from his neighbors. This brings disastrous results in the quality of the goods and the farmer must be dropped from the list. In order to make a success, a system of buying directly from producers must be based upon a grading scheme that will pay for the actual quality of the eggs. No fear then need be exercised as to whether the farmer sells his own eggs or those of his neighbor.
The following extract from Farmer's Bulletin 128 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been used as advertising "dope" in the sale of high grade eggs:
"Under certain conditions eggs may be the cause of illness by communicating some bacterial disease or some parasite. It is possible for an egg to become infected with micro-organisms, either before it is laid or after. The shell is porous, and offers no greater resistance to micro-organisms which cause disease than it does to those which cause the egg to spoil or rot. When the infected egg is eaten raw the microorganisms, if present, are communicated to man and may cause disease. If an egg remains in a dirty nest, defiled with the micro-organisms which cause typhoid fever, carried there on the hen's feet or feathers, it is not strange if some of these bacteria occasionally penetrate the shell and the egg thus becomes a possible source of infection. Perhaps one of the most common troubles due to bacterial infection of eggs is the more or less serious illness sometimes caused by eating those which are 'stale.' This often resembles ptomaine poisoning, which is caused, not by micro-organisms themselves, but by the poisonous products which they elaborate from materials on which they grow.
"In view of this possibility, it is best to keep eggs as clean as possible and thus endeavor to prevent infection. Clean poultry-houses, poultry-runs and nests are important, and eggs should always be stored and marketed under sanitary conditions. The subject of handling food in a cleanly manner is given entirely too little attention."
The reprint upon the succeeding pages will give some idea of the advertising literature used in selling high grade eggs. This is a copy of a hand-bill inserted in the egg boxes of a prominent Chicago dealer: