COLD STORAGE 59 



a) thequantity of each commodity bought during the year; b) its cost when 

 scored, inchiding charges for freight and unloading ; c) the total quantity 

 thereof sold and the total amount for which it sold. From the data thus 

 obtained the average cost and selling prices were computed. The diffe- 

 rence between the two, which the inv^estigators call the "margin ", represents 

 the cost of storing, losses, interest on the investment, extra charges, other 

 expenses in which a commodit>- may involve the cold storage company, 

 ■and finally the conipany's profit. 



Since 1913 the margin on butter has increased by 2 cents a pound, that 

 on cheese by 0.35 cents a pound and that on eggs b3^ 0.96 cents a dozen. 

 On beef it has decreased b}* 0.12 cents a pound and on ham b}' 0.76 cent^ 

 a pound, w^hile on bacon it has increased by 2.25 cents a pound. 



Table II shows in detail for the ten largest cold storage comj)anies the 

 quantities they bought and sold, their average bu3ang and selling prices, 

 and their margins, as regards butter, eggs, cheese, beef, fresh and salt pork, 

 bacon, ham, mutton and lamb: The table does not specify costs of sto- 

 rage. It is believed that there should be a special inquiry into the value 

 of the by-i)roducts of meat, and that a fixed system of keeping accounts ot 

 storage and other costs on particular commodities should become compul- 

 .sory. At present these charges are arbitrarily fixed and levied by the 

 different companies. Possibly a legal scale of charges might be established 

 \dth the system of account-keeping. 



The investigation discovered that in iqiG prices in the home market 

 exceeded those in the export market b_\- r .82 cents per pound of butter, 2.14 

 cents per pound of cheese, 1.24 cents per pound of beef and 6. 11 cents per 

 ■pound of ham ; but fell beiow the prices in the export market by 3.76 cents 

 per dozen eggs, 1.08 cents per pound of pork, and 0.48 cents per pound of 

 bacon. 



Es^os. — Table II shows that Company No. g sold 5,556,605 dozen 

 eggs at a margin of "j.!-] cents a dozen. One branch of this company 

 bought about four million- dozen eggs in 1916 at an average cost of 24.8 

 cents a dozen and sold three and a half million dozen at an average price 

 of 34.7 cents a dozen. In the same 3'ear a neighbouring cold storage com- 

 pany bought about 500.000 dozen eggs at 24.4 cents and sold them at 36.3 

 cents a dozen. If these two abnormal transactions be excluded the average 

 margin of the other eight compaines is found to be not 4.3 but 3.6 cents 

 on a dozen eggs. The turnover in the business is so enormous that the in- 

 vestigators considered that this profit was probably still excessive, (^f 

 twenty-six milhon dozen eggs sold by all the cold storage companies of 

 Canada in 1916 the seven large abattoir companies sold seventeen and a 

 half million dozen. The average margin of the ten companies is 4.57 cents ; 

 that of the seven abattoir companies 4.67 cents, or 0.36 cents higher than 

 that of all the cold .storage companies, and the latter would be much lower 

 without the contribution of the abattoir companies. Three companies 

 alone sold about fourteen million dozen eggs or about 53 per cent, of the 

 total output of the cold storage companies. 



Butter. — Of the fourty-four million pounds of butter sold in 1916 b>' 



