DAIRY MEETING. Ill 



The case of trimmings may be mentioned here. I will men- 

 tion an extreme case. Seven lbs. of lamb chops were bought 

 and paid for; the butcher delivered 3 3-4 lbs.; remonstrance 

 brought forth the usual excuse — "trimmings". 3 1-4 lbs. of 

 trimmings out of 7, — verily, it was trimming. The trimmings 

 were sold at another profit to the rendering works. 



A grain merchant, selling three car-loads of grain per week 

 at $1.60 per hundred weight, if he includes the bag, weighing 

 one pound for every one hundred pounds of grain sold, sells 

 these bags for, or gains an illegal profit on the bags of over 

 $1,000.00 per year; in other words, gains illegally $1,000.00 

 per year over a competitor in the same town selling grain at 

 the same price per pound and delivering net 100 lbs. If the bag 

 weighs more, and I think some do, the loss to the consumers is 

 more, for a pound-and-a-half bag would give such a dealer 

 $1,500.00 per year illegal profit. 



I believe that the above figures of output sold annually by an 

 ordinary grist mill are not excessive. 



In the case of fertilizer, if you are paying for bags at fertil- 

 izer price the loss to you will aggregate quite a sum in a short 

 time. 



The merchant selling meat at 30 cents per lb. and averaging 

 one ounce of wrapper and string with each pound sold, on a 

 sale of 300 lbs. per day, would receive in the course of a year, 

 a profit not belonging to him amounting to over $1400.00, and 

 at the small amount of 1-2 ounce to a pound, for wrappers, 

 etc., it would mean an unjust profit of $700.00. 



In the case of butter it has been demonstrated in my own 

 State of Massachusetts, what a just demand may accomplish. 

 Five years ago it was no uncommon occurrence to find the 

 five-pound boxes, sold as such, which \\'ere 1-4 lb., and some- 

 times more, short. 



One-pound prints weighed, sometimes, less than 15 ounces. 

 It is a rare instance to-day to find such extreme shortages, 

 although I cannot say but that short butter may be found. It 

 is not a universal custom. 



Now it may be claimed by some dairymen that the consumer 

 pays for it. Yes, that is so, but he knows what he is paying for 

 and the manufacturer knows that his competitors are required 



