The Dollar Hen Part 22

It is all a matter of efficient organization. A system of business fitted to deal in carload lots will, of course, fail when dealing with half cases. It is more difficult to deal in little things than in big ones because the margin is closer, but it can and will be done.

The Price of Eggs.

We will consider the price of all eggs from the quotation of Western firsts in the New York market. The reason for this is evident. Every egg raised east of Colorado is in line for shipment to New York. If other towns get eggs they must pay sufficiently to keep them from going to New York.

In pricing eggs we have first to consider the price of Western firsts in New York and secondly the quality relation of the particular grade to Western firsts and the consequent relation in price.

The price of eggs varies with the price of other commodities as the periods of prosperity and adversity follow one another through the years.

As is well known, all prices in the '90's pa.s.sed through a period of depression. For eggs this reached a base in 1897. Since then there has been a gradual climb till this realized a high point in 1904, remained high till 1907. In the spring of 1908 egg prices dropped again, but the fall prices of 1908 were exceptionally high. As this work goes to press (May, 1909) eggs are going into storage at the highest May price on record.

The prices of eggs also vary independently of other commodities because of a gradual changing relation between production and consumption. As stated in the first chapter the prices of poultry products have shown a general rise when compared with other articles. This has been most marked since 1900. As for the future we cannot prophesy save to say that there is nothing in sight to lead us to believe that we will not go still higher in egg prices.

A third variation in the price of eggs is the one caused by the seasonal relation of production and consumption. This change is from year to year fairly constant. Its normal may be seen in the scientifically smoothed curve in plate IV. This curve is based upon the New York prices for the last eighteen years.

In addition to these broader influences there are disturbing tendencies that cause the market to fluctuate back and forth across the line where the more general influences would place it.

Of those general factors, weather is the most important. Storms, rain and cold in the egg producing region decrease the lay, lower supplies and raise the price. This is due both to the fact that laying is cut down and that the country roads become impa.s.sable and the farmers do not bring the eggs to town. As long as there are storage eggs in the warehouses weather conditions are not so effective, but when these are gone, which is usually about the first of the year, the egg market becomes highly sensitive to all weather changes. Suppose late in February storms and snows force up the price of eggs. This is followed by a warm spell which starts the March lay. The roads, meanwhile, are in a quagmire from melting snows. When they do dry up eggs come to town by the wagon loads. A drop of ten cents or more may occur on such occasions within a day or two's time. This is known as the spring drop and for one to get caught with eggs on hand means heavy losses.

When once eggs have suffered this drop to the spring level or the storage price for the season, the prices for April, May and June will remain fairly steady. About the last week in June the summer climb begins. This goes on very steadily with local variation of about the same as those of the spring months. The storage eggs begin to come out in August and at first sell about the same as fresh. As the season advances the fresh product continues to rise in price.

The storage egg price will remain fairly uniform. By November the season of high prices is reached. If storage eggs are still plentiful and the weather is mild sudden variations in price may occur. These are caused by a fear that the storage eggs will not all be consumed before spring.

If an oversupply of eggs have been stored a warm spell in winter will make a heavy drop in the market, but if storage eggs are scarce the sudden variations will be up-shots due to cold waves. From November until spring egg prices are a creature of the weather maps and sudden jumps from 5 to 10 cents may occur at any time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate IV. Page 159. Graphs of egg prices and volume of egg sales as they vary throughout the year.]

The price curve of 1908, which is represented by the dotted line in plate IV will ill.u.s.trate these general principles. In the lower portion of plate IV is given the curves for the New York receipts.

The heavy line represents the smoothed or normal curve, deduced from eighteen years' statistics and calculated for the year 1908. The dotted line shows the actual receipts of 1908. A comparison week by week of the receipts and price will show the detailed workings of the law of supply and demand.

Aside from the weather there are other factors that perceptibly affect the receipts and price of eggs. A high price of meat will increase farm and village consumption of eggs and cut down the receipts that reach the city. Abundance of fruit in the city market will cut down the demand for eggs. A cold, wet spring will increase the mortality of chicks and cause a decreased egg yield the following season, due to a scarcity of pullets. Scarcity and high price of feed will cut down the egg yield. High price of hens is said by some to cut down the egg yield, but I think this is doubtful, as the impulse to sell off the hens is counteracted by the desire to "keep 'em and raise more."

The following are the quotations taken from the New York Price-Current for November 14, 1908:

State, Pennsylvania and nearby fresh eggs continue in very small supply and of more or less irregular quality, a good many being mixed with held eggs--sometimes with pickled stock. The few new laid lots received direct from henneries command extreme prices--sometimes working out in a small way above any figures that could fairly be quoted as a wholesale value. We quote: Selected white, fancy, [email protected]; do., fair to choice, [email protected]; do., lower grades, [email protected]; brown and mixed, fancy, [email protected]; do., fair to choice, [email protected]; do., lower grades, [email protected]

N.Y. Mercantile Exchange Official Quotations.

Fresh gathered, extras, per dozen @37 Fresh gathered, firsts 32 @33 Fresh gathered, seconds 29 @31 Fresh gathered, thirds 25 @28 Dirties, No. 1 21 @22 Dirties, No. 2 18 @20 Dirties, inferior 12 @17 Checks, fresh gathered, fair to prime 18 @20 Checks, inferior 12 @16 Refrigerator, firsts, charges paid for season 24 @24-1/2 Refrigerator, firsts, on dock 23 @23-1/2 Refrigerator, seconds, charges paid for season 22-1/2 @23-1/2 Refrigerator, seconds, on dock 21-1/2 @22-1/2 Refrigerator, thirds 20 @21 Limed, firsts 22-1/2 @23 Limed, seconds 21 @22

The writer was in the New York market at the time and saw many cases of White Leghorn eggs sell wholesale at as high as 55 cents. These were commonly retailed at 5 cents each. There were a good many brands retailing at 65 cents and one of the largest high cla.s.s groceries was selling for 70 cents. This is practically double the official quotations and three times that of cold storage stock.

The above prices represent a fair sample of the fall prices of 1908.

It should be noted that the 1908 fall prices were relatively somewhat better than the rest of the season.

The time of high prices is also the time of the greatest variation in the price of the different grades. In the springtime all eggs are fairly fresh and good, and the fanciest eggs bring wholesale only two or three cents above quotations. There are a few retailers who hold the spring prices to their customers up above the general market. One New York firm that does a large high cla.s.s egg business never lets their price at any season go below 40 cents. This, of course, means big profits and sales only to those who, when they are satisfied, never bother about price.

In the fall any man who has fresh eggs can sell them at very near the highest price, but in the spring only a small per cent. can go at fancy prices and the great majority of even the high grade eggs must go at very ordinary prices. In the summer months there is not so much demand in the cities, as the wealthy are not there to buy.

The coast and mountain resorts are then good markets for fancy produce.

CHAPTER XIII

BREEDS OF CHICKENS

I do not place much dependence on the results of breed tests.

Indeed, I consider the almost universal use of the Barred Rock in the most productive farm poultry regions in the United States, and the equal predominance of S.C. White Leghorns on the egg farms of New York and California, as far more conclusive than any possible breed tests.

Breed Tests.

In Australia there has been conducted a series of breed tests so remarkable and extensive that the writer considers them well worth quoting. The Hawkesbury Agricultural College tests extend over a period of five years, the pens entered were of six birds each, and the time one year. The results were as follows:

No. of Pens Yield of Average Yield Competing Highest Pen of All Pens

1903 ... 70 218 163 1904 ... 100 204 152 1905 ... 100 235 162 1906 ... 100 247 177 1907 ... 60 245 173

The winners and losers for five years were as follows:

Winning Pen Losing Pen

1903 Silver Wyandotte Silver Wyandotte 1904 Silver Wyandotte Partridge Wyandotte 1905 S.C.W. Leghorns S.C.W. Leghorns 1906 Black Langshans Golden Wyandotte 1907 S.C.W. Leghorns S.C.B. Leghorns

As a matter of fact, the winning pen means little for breed comparison. This is shown by the winning and losing pens frequently being of the same breed.

The average for hens of one breed for the whole five years is more enlightening. For the three most popular Australian breeds, these grand averages are:

Average Av. Wt. Eggs.

No. Hens Egg Yield Oz. Per Doz.

S.C.W. Leghorns ... 564 175.5 26.4

Black Orpingtons ... 522 166.6 26.1

Silver Wyandottes ... 474 161.1 24.9

These figures are undoubtedly the most trustworthy breed comparisons that have ever been obtained. When we go into the other breeds, however, with smaller numbers entered, the results show chance variation and become untrustworthy, for ill.u.s.tration: R.C. Brown Leghorns, with 42 birds entered, have an average of 176.4. This does not signify that the R.C. Browns are better than the S.S. Whites, for if the Whites were divided by chance into a dozen lots of similar size, some would undoubtedly have surpa.s.sed the R.C. Browns.

As further proof, take the case of the R.C.W. Leghorns with 36 birds entered and an egg yield of 166.9. Both breeds are probably a little poorer layers than S.C. Whites, but luck was with the R.C. Browns and against the R.C. Whites. For a discussion of this principle of the worth of averages from different sized flocks see Chapter XV.

All Leghorns in the tests with 846 birds entered, averaged 170.3 eggs each. All of the general purpose breeds (Rocks, Wyandottes, Reds and Orpingtons), with 1416 birds entered, averaged 160.2. The comparison between the Leghorns and the general purpose fowls as cla.s.ses is undoubtedly a fair one. A study of the relations between the leading breeds in these groups and the general average of these groups is worth while. It bears out the writer's statement that the best fowls of a group or breed are to be found in the popular variety of that breed. The Australian poultryman, wanting utility only, would do wise to choose out of the three great Australian breeds here mentioned. The S.C.W. Leghorn is the only one of the three breeds to which the advice would apply in America. Barred Rocks and perhaps White Wyandottes, would here represent the other types.

There is one more point in the Australian records worthy of especial mention. The winning pen in 1906 were Black Langshans and, what seems still more remarkable, were daughters of birds purchased from the original home of Langshans in North China. Other pens of Langshans in the test failed to make remarkable records, but this pen of Chinese stock, with a record of 246 5-6* eggs per hen for the first year and 414 1-2* eggs per hen for two years, is the world's record layers beyond all quibble. This record is held by a breed and a region in which we would not expect to find great layers.