856 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



BUTTER IN ALLIER 



By Grafton L. Wilson 



DAIRY BUTTER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ALLIER 



Case I 



Place of production Montmarault and vicinity 



Place of consumption Moulins 



Average price received by producer . . 2.10 francs per kilo 



Average price paid by consumer . . . 3.00 francs per kilo 



Difference between prices 0.90 francs 



Number of intermediate steps .... Two 



Freight, Montmarault to Moulins . . . 0.025 francs per kilo 



Price paid by grocer 2.55 francs per kilo 



Middleman's margin 0.425 francs per kilo 



Grocer's margin 0.45 francs per kilo 



Case II 



Place of production . . . . . . Environs of Moulins 



Place of consumption Moulins 



Average price received by producer . . 2.50 francs per kilo 



Average price paid by consumer . . . 2.80 francs per kilo 



Difference between prices 0.30 francs 



Number of intermediate steps .... One 



Market retailer's margin 0.30 francs 



Case III 



Place of production Environs of Moulins 



Place of consumption Moulins 



Price received by producer 2.90 francs per kilo 



Price paid by consumer 2.90 francs per kilo 



Number of intermediate steps . . . . None 



Case I. Methods of sale by producer to middleman. In Case I 

 the peasant women bring the butter in donkey carts to the mar- 

 kets in the small towns. These are held in some places once 

 and in others twice a week. The butter is carried into the mar- 

 ket place in small baskets, and a tax of from 10 to 20 centimes 

 is levied upon them according to their length. The buyers or 

 middlemen take positions in different parts of the market, and 

 the keen competition among them, combined with the sharpness 



