330 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



broad view of the butter situation and not be governed solely by the 

 business of a single day. Whatever you do, always be on the con- 

 servative side of the market." Sounds like good advice, does it not? But 

 why should a reporter lean to either side of the market? What possible 

 excuse can he give to any fair minded man for ignoring the bulk of 

 the daily business, and to make an arbitrary quotation because he or 

 any considerable number of operators feel that it will be the best for 

 the trade? Market values like water sooner or later will find their own 

 level, and the controlling factors in the final analysis are the supply 

 and demand. The moment a reporter fails to have important transactions 

 on which to base his quotations he is as helpless as a ship in a storm 

 without a rudder or compass. To get at the actual business is the re- 

 porter's most difficult task. Thirty years of the closest acquaintance 

 with the trade has placed him in possession of the best sources of infor- 

 mation, but at times the most reliable merchant does not care to open 

 his books or give away certain information that is so essential to a 

 correct understanding of the market. Besides, some men will lie, and 

 their names are not always on the black list that the reporter carries 

 in his vest pocket. A few staunch friends — men who are doing business 

 every day and who are honest to the core — have to be relied on when 

 other avenues of information are temporarily closed. But, I have not 

 completed the story of that eventful week. The quotation of 27i^c, which 

 was made on Monday, held only a day or two, then there was a drop 

 to 26 1/2 c, later to 25i^c, and on Saturday to 25c — a slump of 3i^c a 

 pound for the week, or a matter of $2.10 a tub. 



I fear that I have wearied you with so long a recital of the way 

 quotations are now made in New York, but I want to assure you that 

 every effort is being made to represent as nearly as possible the open 

 wholesale prices of all grades of butter. 



Whatever criticisms may be hurled at the reporter, any fair minded 

 man will recognize that it is the reporter's duty to reflect the market 

 after it has been made by actual business; that the receivers can and 

 must determine the prices at which they are willing to sell butter, and 

 in this way make a market which the reporter must quote. There are 

 special channels into which some stock will go at an advance over the 

 quotations no matter what figure is given, but the price at which large 

 buyers can secure supplies on the open market will hereafter be the 

 basis of the quotations. And let me say to you, farther, that this system 

 of quoting gives fuller recognition to fancy butter. Already there is a 

 noticeable discrimination in quality, and this will gradually become more 

 pronounced. , 



Buttermakers of the state of Iowa, you will now have a greater in- 

 centive to make fancy butter. Go back to your creameries from this 

 convention with the determination burned deep into your souls that you 

 will raise the quality of your product to a higher standard. 



Member: I want to ask if there ever was an agreement among 

 the commission merchants of New York to return any premium? 



Mr. Taber: There never has been any agreement between the 

 commission merchants regarding that matter. 



