PRICE OF EGGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 5

PRICE OF EGGS.

THE RECENT DECREASE. BETTER MARKETS WANTED. UY riULiIV. The pronounced fall in the price of eggs I which took place recently seems to have | come as a surprise to tradespeople, as | well as a disappointment to producers, t if one may judge by the uncertainty and i irregularity of the prices quoted by re- [ tailcrs. Last Friday they were offering tin various shops at Is 7d, Is 9d, Is 3ld | and 2s 2d, compared with 2s 3d to 2s 6d the previous week. This wide variation is probably the greatest that has ever taken place, pointing to the different circumstances under which retailers were obtaining supplies. Eggs always fall about this time of the year, but the drop is sharper than usual, and it is also two to three weeks earlier than usual. From the point of view of the producers it would be pleasant to think that this unusual development was due to more success in bringing pullets to early maturity and getting .the old birds through the moult, but it is more likely to be clue to a combination of causes which point in the opposite direction—the lack of efficient organisation. The New Zealand Poultry Association lias been doing good work in regard to export, London being usually regarded as a profitable outlet, for an unlimited surplus, while tho Government guarantee of a minimum return on ail exports has already encouraged a much larger trade. Much of the advantage which might be expected from this, however, has been, nullified by importations from Canada, for these have tended to demoralise the market, even though the quantities have not been very large. Stablising Influence of Export. Every effort should be made to increase .the export, both pulped and in shell, for | the former now seems to offer an improved return, and there is no surer way to stabilise the price throughout the year than by the encouragement of a larger production by making it known that in the flush of the season all the surplus can i be unloaded in. a market overseas. In every product, however, the local market is not to be -overlooked, for frequent instances have proved that 'it is capable of a great extension. This certainly applies to eggs, for it is only very rarely that concerted action is taken to ! increase the demand. Producers have not. | yet banded themselves together in the ; same fashion as the co-operative dairy companies have done. The recent movement in the direction of combining in order to develop the local market is worthy of every encouragement for it | embraces the two ideals of advantage to i the producer and advantage to the conj fumer. The former must necessarily gain | if he obtains a surer outlet at a higher average price, and the latter gains by obtaining without trouble a guaranteed egg. There is no denying the clifficulty in doing this at present, for hundreds of households keep only a small flock of a dozen birds because they have given up the effort of buying eggs of guaranteed quality, while hundreds more have simply 1 given it .up as impossible, and now go i without. Absence of Reliability. j This must not be construed as a suggesj tion that no good eggs come on the I market. The vast majority of eggs are | perfect in quality and condition, but it j is the absence of reliability that kills the i sale. It is useless to attempt to increase i the sale of eggs if a parcel contains 23 1 good eggs, with the twenty-fourth opening i out stale when it appears on the breakfast ; table. That one offensive egg will do more harm than the good that is done by a gross of fresh eggs, and, therefore,'the primary effort of an organised sale is not, to improve the average quality, but <o entirely eliminate the bad quality. The success that has followed the systematic testing of eggs for export —in j Auckland by the Government poultry in- | structor, Mr. lE. C. Jarrett —shows, how ! quickly a reputation has been built up Iby the elimination of the unfit. It is doubtful if all the testing an.d all the advice has improved the quality one iota: all it has done is to weed out the bad. medium, indifferent and doubtful, leaving none but those that are in perfect condition. The result has been that New Zealand eggs have gained' a reputation second to none on the London market. Good Condition Essential. Size is desirable in eggs, flavour is desirable, and colour is desirable, but all of these qualifications are a poor second to perfect condition, and yet perfect condition is the very feature which every producer can secure if he likes, however hard he may find it to get size and quality. Not one buyer in a hundred troubles about an odd penny or two in the price, provided he knows that what he gets is absolutely fresh. It seems an '.mnecessary expense for the traders in eggs to examine them as to freshness, when this can be so much more easily guaranteed by the producer, at no expense whatever. Yet the experience during the export season gave evidence only too painful that this precaution was neglected. Fresh were mixed with stale, clean with dirty, sound mediums with | broken undersized or oversized, ail this j entailing extra work and expense in examining and storing. For a. stale egg there is absolutely no excuse, for evenproducer can guarantee freshness if he likes to take, the trouble in collecting them.