PACKING AND MARKETING BUTTER 117 



3. Ship your butter to the firm that offers you the best 

 price, but do not deal with this firm exclusively. A tub 

 should occasionally be sent to a new and reliable firm 

 with a view to securing better prices. 



4. Remember, however, that it requires time to estab- 

 lish a good trade for butter. Frequent changes from one 

 firm to another are therefore undesirable. 



5. Do not sell butter on commission, but ask for prices 

 f. o. b. your station, based on some market quotation like 

 New York, Chicago or Elgin. 



6. Demand that payment shall be made for each ship- 

 ment of butter within two weeks after it is sent out. 



7. Never send a firm a third shipment until the first 

 has been paid for. 



8. Butter that is not up to the standard should be 

 marked and the firm properly instructed regarding its 

 disposition. An attempt to crowd in an inferior ship- 

 ment may cost you your regular trade. 



9. Do not feel hurt when criticisms come regarding 

 defects in your butter but seek to overcome them. 



10. Always allow one-half pound of butter for shrink- 

 age on fifty and sixty pound tubs. If this allowance proves 

 inadequate it indicates that the tubs have not been properly 

 soaked or that the "house" is cutting you on weights. 



11. Never contract butter for more than a year at a 

 time. 



How to Sell to Commission Houses. A common 

 mistake in marketing butter is to sell it at prices based 

 upon the score of the butter. This places the butter- 

 maker at the mercy of the commission man who may, or 

 may not, give an honest score. If he is not strictly 

 honest he may easily place butter that would 

 naturally grade as extras in the class of firsts, and butter 



