I4 6 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [370 



By February, 1879, the board had become so well estab- 

 lished, and both butter and cheese were of such a high stand- 

 ard of quality, known in every consuming- market in the coun- 

 try as well as in Europe, as Elgin butter and cheese, that it 

 was thought best to incorporate under the laws of Illinois. 

 . . . The object for which the corporation was formed was 

 " to maintain commercial exchange, to promote uniformity in 

 the customs and usages of merchants, to inculcate principles of 

 justice and equity in trade, and generally to secure for its mem- 

 bers the benefits of cooperation in their legitimate pursuits." 



At first the buyer and seller would meet in the exchange 

 room, and after completing their deal, report their trade to the 

 secretary, which sale was known as a regular sale. But the 

 offerings and transactions soon became so large that a regular 

 call board was established, where the name of the factory 

 could be written down upon a large blackboard, giving the num- 

 ber of tubs of butter or boxes of cheese offered, and if the 

 seller chose to do so he could offer at a price or at his option. 



The buyer could then take at the price offered, or make his 

 offer, and in that way they would get together on the price, 

 and establish the quotation for Elgin butter and cheese. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MIDDLEMEN^ EXCHANGES 



At the time this producers' exchange was being organ- 

 ized, a movement to organize middlemen's markets was also 

 in progress. In New York City the commission men deal- 

 ing in butter and cheese were affiliated with the Produce 

 Exchange prior to 1873, where up to that time these trades 

 received very little attention. During that year, in com- 

 pliance with a request made by the dairy commission men, 

 the Exchange included in its daily produce reports the re- 

 ceipts of butter and cheese at New York. 1 Prior to 1873, 

 the butter and cheese dealers conducted their business with- 

 out any formal trade rules ; but during that year they were 



1 Annua! Report of the N. Y. Produce Exchange for 1873-1S74, p. 28. 



