MAEKETING PRACTICES OF CEEAMEEIES. 5 



BASIS OF PRICE PAID FOR CREAM. 



The usual practice of the cooperative creameries of Wisconsin and 

 Minnesota was to prorate the net receipts among the patrons accord- 

 ing to the amount of butter fat each had furnished. Those cream- 

 eries in Minnesota which did not operate on the cooperative basis, 

 usually based their buying price of butter fat on the New York butter 

 quotation for " extras." Creameries in Wisconsin used either the 

 Elgin or Chicago quotation, and frequently paid premiums above 

 the quotations when the Elgin quotation was used. 



The centralizing creameries in these States gave consideration to 

 the price paid by local creameries, also the market quotations at 

 New York, Chicago, Elgin, and Boston. When country cream receiv- 

 ing stations were operated by centralizing creameries, the price paid 

 to the patrons for butter fat was sometimes as much as 4 cents below 

 New York " extras." Direct cream shippers received approximately 

 the market quotation for " extras." 



FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT TO PATRONS. 



About 80 per cent of the cooperative creameries of Minnesota paid 

 their patrons once a month and 15 per cent paid twice a month. The 

 frequency of payment varied with the others. The system of paying 

 the patrons monthly may be accounted for by the usual method of 

 prorating the monthly net receipts according to the amount of butter 

 fat each patron had delivered. The noncooperative creameries in 

 Minnesota were about equally divided on the methods of paying 

 once a month, twice a month, and at time of delivery. Of 250 cream- 

 eries in Wisconsin, 48 per cent paid monthly, 39 per cent semi- 

 monthly, and the rest either daily, semiweekly, or weekly. Nearly 

 all centralizing creameries paid for each shipment of cream as it 

 was received. 



MARKETING OF CREAMERY BY-PRODUCTS. 



Skim milk and buttermilk are natural by-products of creameries. 

 It was found that usually the skim milk was returned to those patrons 

 who delivered whole milk, at the rate of 80 per cent of the amount 

 of whole milk delivered. 



Frequently the buttermilk at country creameries was contracted 

 to a regular buyer or to patrons at 10 cents per can, or at 1 to 1^ 

 cents per gallon. Creameries located in large cities often sold but- 

 termilk to hotel and other city trade at 2 to 10 cents per gallon. 



Ice cream, while not ordinarily considered as a creamery by- 

 product, was manufactured as a creamery " side line " in about 20 

 per cent of the creameries in Wisconsin, and 2.1 per cent of those 

 in Minnesota, by the converting of a part of the milk and cream sup- 



