Co-operative Egg Farming In England
Co-operative egg farming is carried on in parts of England, which gives a method for
disposing of eggs to a good advantage. It is a plan especially beneficial to the farmers
of the district, as, no matter how few dozens they may have for sale, the same market
rate can be realized as if they had a large quantity to ship. The Framlingham and
District Co-operative Society, Limited, of Suffolk, England, takes the eggs from the
farmers, tests them, and then ships the entire lot to market, giving an official stamp of
guarantee of quality, which finds for them a ready sale. The Society receives eggs only of
good size and quality. Each egg must not weigh less than two ounces, and a deduction of
two cents in price is made for every ten coming under the weight of two ounces each. Each
farmer is supplied with a small rubber stamp, with which he must stamp each egg before it
will be received for shipment. All eggs coming to the shipping house are tested by
experts, who can tell pretty closely the age and condition.
The exactness of the Society has been the means of inducing the farmers to improve their
stock, and mate for good sized eggs, and they are careful to bring to market only the
strictly fresh article. Each offering stands upon its own merits. There is no limit to
quantity - quality alone being the consideration. A dozen or a hundred eggs will receive
the same kind of attention, and be given the same advantage of sale, as will a thousand;
provided, of course, they are properly stamped by the farmer from whose yard they have
come, and meet the requirements of the official test. The Society guarantees to dispose
of eggs, no matter in how large quantities they may be offered, at the best price
obtainable. In Paris markets, the eggs are dated, and one pays according to the
freshness, so that it is possible to be certain of newly-laid eggs ; or, if it is
necessary to be economical, yesterday's eggs, or the day's before, are offered at a
reduction. Here the American farmer and poultryman can find an object lesson. Especially
in communities more or less remote from a good market, it would be profitable for farmers
and poultrymen to unite and form a society similar to that in Framlingham, and in this way
not only put more money in the producers' pocket, but improve the grade of fowls and the
quality of eggs, thereby securing the best prices for furnishing the consumer eggs of
superior size, flavor and condition. The common practice of farmers carting their eggs to
the village store to be traded off far groceries, is an unwise act for both the farmer and
the consumer.
In the first place, the farmer is indifferent as to the age and condition of his eggs.
During a scarcity he will save up his eggs until he has a sufficient number of dozens to
make it an object to "go to town." If a society would exist in the locality that would
test the eggs, the farmer would soon learn that condition meant money to him, and would
take greater care. By such a practice there would be less bad eggs on the market, and if
this co-operative principle would become general there would soon be a scarcity of
preserved or pickled eggs, or eggs from cold-storage plants, on the winter market, to
compete with the fresh-egg trade, and the housewife would no longer look upon an egg with
suspicion whenever she came to use one. Ducks and geese require deep drinking vessels,
especially if reared and kept on land. Unless the vessel is deep enough so the fowl can
get its entire head under water, and thus wash its eyes, dust or dirt will settle in the
eyes, making them sore, and often resulting in blindness. A 3-gallon water pail is the
best drinking vessel for either ducks or geese.
EXPERIENCE THE POULTRYHAN'S GREAT ASSET The good old summer time is here, and
with its coming, the ardor of many a beginner in the poultry business begins to wear off.
In the early spring the days were short and cool, the hens laid good, the chicks had no
mites and lice to bother them and they grew nicely, and you didn’t have the desire to
hunt a cool, shady place and rest off that tired, lazy feeling that you have when the
thermometer registers around 100 degrees in the shade. I want to say right now, if you
have a lazy bone in your body, you don't want to go in the poultry business. So many
people think it is so easy — just throw out the feed, gather up the eggs, and spend the
money. So many ask me, "What do you find out here to keep you busy? Don't you get awfully
lonesome out here?" If they could be with me for one week from five in the morning till
ten or eleven at night they would think a little differently. I want to write this more
to the young poultryman, the one who is making this his first season, and try to
encourage him not to be a quitter. Nobody nor the devil loves a quitter. I know it is
hard to stay when the chicks die, and the setting hens and hen-house get full of mites
and when the hens quit laying; or when you have off some nice ones you think out of
danger, your neighbor's dog kills most of them and something else happens to the rest. My
first year the hogs and the rats eat up nearly all of mine. Experience, and trouble you
must have: it is an asset in the poultry business. You may read all the books and poultry
journals published, and if you have not the real experience, you can't raise chickens. So,
young poultryman, when trouble comes your way put it down in your ledger as an asset.
Never let the same trouble come twice, though, as then it becomes a loss. The more money
you have to put in the poultry business the great will be your trouble and the more
costly your experience or assets.
It is much better that you have just a little ; then you get your experience in small
doses, and it does not hurt so much. If I had had several thousand dollars to start in
the poultry business I doubt very seriously if I would be in the business today. I can
look back now and am thankful that I did not have it. So many young poultrymen want to
start at the top of the ladder instead of on the bottom round, where they should. Make
haste slowly, is pretty good advice to the young poultryman. Don't you ever think the
business will be overdone I was told that it would be, over twenty years ago, and poultry
products are more than doubled in value now. Don't change your breed every time you let
some fellow try to talk you into it. Select some popular breed that you like and a good
many others like, too, if you are going into the business for a living. The older heads
in the business could save a good many to the fraternity by giving advice and
encouragement, especially through the months of June, July and August, Don't be a
quitter.
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