Preference in the color of eggs shells is a hobby, and one well worth catering to. As is commonly stated, Boston and surrounding towns want brown eggs, while New York and San Francisco demand white eggs. These trade fancies take their origin in the circumstances of there being large henneries in the respective localities producing the particular class of eggs. If the eggs from such farms are the best in the market and were uniformly of a particular shade, that mark of distinction, like the trade name on a popular article, would naturally become a selling point. Only the select trade consider the color in buying. Eggs of all Mediterranean breeds are white. Those of Asiatics are brown. Those of the American breeds are usually brown, but not of so uniform a tint. The size of eggs is chiefly controlled by the breed or by selection of layers of large eggs. In a number of experiments published by various experiment stations, slight differences in the sizes of the eggs have been noted with varying rations and environment, but this cannot be attributed to anything more specific than the general development and vigor of the fowls. Pullets, at the beginning of the laying period, lay an egg decidedly smaller than those produced at a later stage in life. The egg size table below gives the size of representative classes of eggs. These figures must not be applied too rigidly, as the eggs of all breeds and all localities vary. They are given as approximate averages of the eggs one might reasonably expect to find in the class mentioned. EGG SIZE TABLE. GEOGRAPHICAL BREED Net Wt. Weight Relative CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATIONS Per 30 Ounces Values Dozen Per Per Case Dozen Dozen Southern Iowa's Purebred flocks of 45 lbs. 24 25c. "Two ounce eggs" American varieties of "egg farm Leghorns." Poorest flocks of Games and 36 lbs. 19 1-5 20c. Southern Dunghills Hamburgs. Average Tennessee Poorest strains 40 lbs. 21 1-3 22 1-3c. or Texas eggs. of Leghorns. Average for the The mixed barnyard 43 lbs. 23 23 9-10c. United States as fowl of the western represented by farm, largely of Kansas, Plymouth Rock origin. Minnesota and Southern Illinois. Average size of eggs American Brahmas 48 lbs. 25 3-5 26 2-3c. produced in Denmark. and Minorcas. Selected brands of Equaled by several 54 lbs. 28 4-5 30c. Danish eggs. pens of Leghorns in the Australian laying contest. How Eggs Are Spoiled.