212 THE MARKETING OF WHOLE MILK 



plus a differential of 6 cents for fat over butter, to which 

 is added the value of 85 pounds of skim milk. The latter 

 is to be determined on the basis that 100 pounds of skim 

 milk should be equivalent to one-half the price of a bushel 

 of corn. 1 



A somewhat similar plan has been in use for a number 

 of years by an Ohio company which sells large quantities 

 of sweet cream in a wholesale way to ice-cream manu- 

 facturers, milk dealers, and others. This company has 

 paid for the butterfat a price based upon, and usually 

 several cents above, Chicago butter extras. An additional 

 price is then paid for the skim milk in 100 pounds of whole 

 milk. 



On the whole it is doubtful whether any ready method 

 can be found for arriving at prices in our large market 

 centers at any given time by any simple formula or basic 

 commodity-price method. All of these methods, however, 

 may be very useful at times as aids in arriving at prices 

 for current months. 



Figures 15 to 29 show the movement of milk prices paid 

 to producers in various parts of the United States from 

 1913 to 1919, inclusive. The prices upon which the curves 

 are based are not in all cases comparable, since they often 

 represent different things. (See also Chap. II, Sec. 7.) 

 The Springfield, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburg 

 prices are for 4 per cent milk, whereas the others are for 

 milk varying from 3.5 to 3.7 per cent. The Cleveland, 

 Toledo, New York, and Pittsburg prices are country prices, 

 whereas the Springfield, Columbus, Philadelphia, San 

 Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans prices are city 

 prices. We are here interested mainly, though not wholly, 

 in price movements during the period under consideration. 



1 F. A. Pearson, Jour, of Farm Econ., Oct., 1919, p. 93. 



