PRICES AND QUALITY OP CREAMERY BUTTER. 7 



QUALITY DEMANDS OF TRADE IN DIFFERENT CITIES. 



In order to determine to what extent the " quality standards " of 

 the trade differ in various markets, numerous lots of butter were 

 sampled and scored in over 50 of the leading cities in all sections of 

 the United States. The standard of quality of the " general run " of 

 the market or the grade of goods which current market quotations 

 generally represented was determined by a daily inspection of cur- 

 rent arrivals in the storerooms of the wholesale trade. In figuring the 

 average or the prevailing standard for any market, the scores of only 

 such lots as were acceptable to the higher class of grocery trade in 

 those cities were included. To check the inspections in the wholesale 

 market, a number of sales were followed through to the consumer. 

 The results of these studies of the comparative quality standards of 

 the trade in the various important market centers of the United 

 States showed differences of two or three points between the prevail- 

 ing grades or the standards of the most discriminating eastern mar- 

 kets and those of certain western and southern cities. 



In Table 2 the average scores of more than 150 different lots distrib- 

 uted among the retail trade of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. 

 Paul, and Minneapolis are shown. The first column is the average 

 score of the representative lots of all butter sold to all classes of trade, 

 and such scores are indicative of the " general run " of the market 

 at that season of the year. The second column shows the average of 

 lots sold only to the most select grocery trade, and such scores indi- 

 cate the compartive standards for so-called " Extras " in those 

 markets. 



Table 2. — Average scores for lots of creamery butter sold to all classes of trade 



and to select trade. 



[Based on scorings in winter months, 1914-15.] 



Market. 



All classes 

 of trade. 



Select 

 trade. 



New York 



Philadelphia 



Chicago 



St. Paul and Minneapolis . 



90.2 

 90.8 

 89.2 

 89.1 



91.1 

 91.8 

 90.2 

 89.6 



The comparisons of the prevailing standards of the trade in the 

 cities named above are based on the scorings of a single expert butter 

 judge. This eliminates differences of personal tastes and makes the 

 results of the work fairly comparable. 



Although there is difference of opinion with regard to the com- 

 parative quality standards of different markets, the experience of 

 most creameries has demonstrated the fact that the quality demands 

 of the trade are different in different cities. Thus the majority of 



