344 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
arable effort in the way of investigating complaints of this charact- 
er. In order to more fully illustrate the high prices possible to be 
legitimately paid by a local creamery under present conditions, 
there is given below a statement of the business of one of our mode- 
rate sized co-operative creameries for the butterfat received for 
September : 
The average price of butter in New York for September was 
''creamery specials" 24 1-2 cents, and this creamery paid for butter- 
fat 29 cents, which was a half cent more than they should have paid 
by reason of an error of the secretary amounting to $83.03. The 
secretary in making up his books for the 20th of the month was 
obliged to estimate receipts on the last shipments and he made his 
estimate too high. If he had paid 28 1-2 cents, which he could 
have done and had a little money left, he would still have paid 4 
cents more than the average of the market for the month. Whereas 
the market for the twenty-five business days in September was 
24 1-2, the market for the four days upon which he actually sold 
his butter was 25 7-8. This man sold half his butter at two 
cents premium and the other half at 2 1-2 cents premium — an aver- 
age of 2 1-4 cents, so that he actually received for his butter an 
average of 28 1-8 cents. This advance of 3 5-8 cents over the market 
of 24 1-2 cents for September is 2 1-4 cents premium and 1 3-8 ad- 
vance in the market from the time the fat was received till it was 
sold in New York. Further, the 2 1-4 cents premium on the butter 
sent to New York amounted to $418.23. The overrun of 18.7 per 
cent or 3,000 pounds of butter had a value of $847.50, which is more 
than all the expenses of the creamery added to the freight and com- 
mission. 
That is to say this creamery received a price two and one quarter 
cents above the New York market for specials, and made one and 
three-eighths cents by reason of the fact that nearly two weeks 
elapsed from the time the butter fat arrived at the creamery until 
it was sold as butter in the market. The overrun more than paid 
all the expenses of the creamery, the freight on the butter to market 
and the commission for selling the same. The price paid was en- 
tirely warranted by the receipts, except the half cent error men- 
tioned. 
The following figures are not at all abnormal except by reason of 
the fact of the rising market and the gain occasioned by having this 
abnormality out of the question there is no reason why any well 
managed creamery making a high grade of butter may not duplicate 
