426 MARKETING OF BUTTER 



drafts. Banks that pay no interest on the creamery balance, fre- 

 quently accept the drafts without discounting. 



Butter Exchanges. The butter exchange is a voluntary 

 trade organization of wholesale dealers in butter. In many cases 

 the exchange is not confined to butter alone, but includes other 

 allied commodities, such as cheese, eggs, poultry, etc. Specific 

 examples of produce exchanges of dealers in butter or butter and 

 allied commodities, whose operations are recognized as having 

 the greatest influence upon the marketing of butter in this coun- 

 try, are: 



The New York Mercantile Exchange, New York City, N. Y. 



The Chicago Butter and Egg Board, Chicago, Illinois. 



The San Francisco Wholesale Dairy Produce Exchange, San 

 Francisco, California. 



The Elgin Board of Trade, Elgin, Illinois. 



The Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston, Massachusetts. 

 These produce exchanges are generally incorporated associa- 

 tions. Weld 1 enumerates the primary functions of the produce 

 exchange as follows: 



"1. To provide a convenient market or trading place. 



2. To regulate business dealings of members. 



3. To provide a system to facilitate the settlement of trade 

 disputes. 



4. To establish uniform grades and a system of inspection. 



5. To acquire and to disseminate market information." 

 The specific objects and functions of the different exchanges 



cover a varying range. The charter of the New York Mer- 

 cantile Exchange, for instance, records the following ob- 

 jects of the 'Association : "To provide and regulate a suitable 

 room or rooms for an exchange in the City of New York; to 

 foster trade; to protect it against unjust or unlawful exactions; 

 to reform abuses; to diffuse accurate and reliable information; 

 to settle differences between members ; to promote among them 

 good fellowship and a more enlarged and friendly intercourse; 

 and to make provision for the widows and families of deceased 

 members." 



The realization of its objects and the safeguarding of its pol- 

 icies is accomplished by the careful supervision of admission of 

 new members. 



1 Weld, The Marketing of Farm Products, 1916. 



