428 MARKETING OF BUTTER 



is toward conducting its transactions through the medium of 

 private sales. The great bulk of butter handled by members 

 of the Exchange is not sold under the "Call," but by private 

 deals between buyers and sellers. This situation is largely the 

 result of the increasing differentials of grades and the develop- 

 ment of special markets for special grades, for which butter from 

 special creameries is demanded. The "Call," however, serves in 

 many instances as a convenient means for the seller who has a 

 surplus, to find a buyer and for the buyer in case of shortage 

 of any particular grade of butter to locate a seller of that grade. 

 Considerable trading is also usually done privately between 

 members at the conclusion of the "Call" and before the meeting 

 adjourns. 



Butter Quotations. The problem of determining butter 

 quotations is a subject of the greatest importance to the entire 

 butter industry. Butter quotations, in order to be correct, should 

 coincide with the actual market value of the butter. They should 

 therefore be determined by the supply and demand of butter, 

 otherwise they may be conducive of serious disturbances in the 

 normal movement of butter on the market, which disturbance^ 

 are bound to operate against the best interests of the butter 

 business. 



Limited space does not permit here a detailed discussion 

 of the multitude of agencies through which price quotations are 

 established, but the importance of the subject justifies a brief 

 reference to the prevailing systems of determining butter quo- 

 tations in a few of the leading butter markets of the country. 

 These references are confined here to the New York, Chicago 

 and Elgin quotations. 



Formerly the New York and Chicago quotations were de- 

 termined by a committee of the New York Mercantile Exchange 

 and the Chicago Butter Board, respectively. These committees, 

 consisting of dealers, being in most intimate touch with the 

 market and with the actual market value of the butter, were as- 

 sumed to be admirably qualified to arrive at just and correct 

 quotations. They met each day at the conclusion of the "Call" 

 behind closed doors. 



"This same practice obtained abroad and even in Denmark 

 butter quotations decided upon by the Copenhagen merchants 



