356 COLD STORAGE AND BUTTER FOR STORAGE PURPOSES 



Varying conditions, as length of time in storage, storage rates, 

 price of butter and rate of interest, would, of course, modify the 

 above estimate. It is a fair assumption to make that the cost of 

 carrying butter during the storage season will be from 2 to 2\ 

 cents a pound. 



Should Cold Storage Butter be Branded? A great deal of 

 butter is kept in what are known as coolers by the butter dealers 

 or merchants. Such butter is termed fresh butter until it is 

 placed in cold storage plants. There is a bill before Congress 

 at the present time which would require all butter held at a tem- 

 perature below 45 to be classified as cold-storage butter. If 

 such a bill should become law in its present form, all butter made 

 in the creameries would be classified as storage butter as soon as it 

 is churned, as all creameries use coolers for keeping their butter 

 until it is shipped, when it is placed in refrigerator cars and 

 shipped to the dealer. The latter may either place it in cold 

 storage or carry it in his cooler from two weeks to sixty days, 

 depending upon market conditions. There are a few firms 

 who have coolers large enough to store two cars of butter, and 

 they can control the temperature of the said coolers to almost any 

 desired point. 



The placing of a brand on butter of this character would be 

 the means of causing the butter to sell for several cents per pound 

 less, due to the prejudice that exists in the minds of many people 

 against cold-storage goods of any kind. From a health stand- 

 point there is no necessity for placing a brand on butter or cheese 

 held in cold storage, for the reason that good butter will keep 

 for a very long time without undergoing practically any change, 

 if held below zero Fahrenheit. 



Dr. Larson, Chief of the Dairy Division, reports having 

 examined butter that was kept for three years in storage and 

 which scored as high as 92 points when taken out. Where butter 

 is held at a temperature between 5 and 10 degrees below zero there 

 is very little danger of any change taking place during a period of 

 nine to twelve months, especially if the butter is good. The 

 authors know of a specific case in Chicago, where, owing to 

 declining prices and in order to avoid a loss, a buyer carried 



