343] GRADIXG AND JUDGING BUTTER ng 



tected by rules of the exchange which make provision for 

 the inspection of goods that may be tendered him with a 

 view to determining whether or not they are the kind he 

 bought. Such an inspection is absolutely impartial in its 

 decision. This method of buying and selling, in use on the 

 floor of the exchange, rests on the principal of grading and 

 could not be instituted without first establishing grades. 



But the primary reason for the establishment of grades 

 in butter is found in the accurate basis for trading that 

 these grades make possible. That is, by grading butter it 

 becomes possible to establish, for each grade, a market price 

 commensurate with quality. And from this fact very im- 

 portant benefits accrue to the trading class. 



Butter varies so widely in quality that the utility of the 

 best table butter is very much greater than the utility of the 

 packing stock used principally in bakeries. And this fact 

 should be reflected in the price. Good butter should bring 

 a much better price than poor butter. As far as it is con- 

 sistent with demand the different qualities of butter should 

 be prevented from influencing one another in the market. 

 A large accumulation of a poor stock of goods will natur- 

 ally lower the price of this poor stock. And unless the 

 trade draws a sharp line between the utility of this poor 

 stock and that of the finest table butter, the decreased price 

 of the poor stock will also depress unduly the price of the 

 finest butter. Of course there must necessarily be a sym- 

 pathetic relation between the upper and lower prices; be- 

 cause when poor butter is available it is substituted for good 

 butter in the baking business, and perhaps somewhat for 

 table use. This lessens the demand for the better qualities 

 and has a tendency to depress the top prices. But apart 

 from this sympathetic relation between top and bottom 

 prices, a flood of poor butter, before the time when grades 

 were used as a basis for trading, had an undue tendency to 



