30 BULLETIN 1385, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
charges and any local taxes or customs duties. Then a commission 
of approximately 4 per cent of the amount of the sale is charged. 
When sold on the fixed-price method the charges are usually based 
upon the number of head rather than upon the weight of the birds. 
These charges vary in different places, depending upon the markets 
and the items which are supposed to be covered by the charges. For 
instance, in Rome fixed charges include the payment of the local 
customs tax imposed on foodstuffs by various municipalities in Eu- 
rope. The comparatively few car-lot shipments of live poultry that 
are made are handled almost exclusively on a jobbing basis and are 
not consigned to commission men. 
Dressed poultry is handled usually on a commission basis. Each 
small dresser ships his hamper of poultry to a commission man, 
who in turn sells it to the retail trade, deducting the expenses of 
transportation and his commission from the returns made to the 
shipper. g 
MARKET PRICE QUOTATIONS 
Market price quotations are made in various ways. In some places 
daily auctions are held which establish the quotation. In others 
the quotations are arrived at by private treaty and are reported to 
newspapers, and in others a combination of private trading and 
municipal official supervision establishes the quotation. This is the 
most extended method. The public wholesale and retail markets in 
most cities in Europe are under the supervision and control of a 
city official. The dealers in these markets, in cooperation with the 
controlling official, determine the market quotations, which are used 
as a basis for the payment of shippers and for sale to the retailers. 
There are practically no private trade-reporting publications such 
as exist in the larger American markets. The prices as agreed upon 
are published in the daily papers and in the official market publica- 
tions of the various cities. This plan of arriving at quotations 
seems to work fairly well. The consumers feel that they are pro- 
tected, and the wholesalers and the jobbers have a more or less 
steady quotation upon which to trade 
In some instances the quotations on the market are made by com- 
mittees of the dealers and are supposed to represent the prices for 
one week, on the basis of which the transactions in that week will be 
adjusted. This method is more liable to misinterpretation by the 
consumer, and when prices become extremely high the consumers are 
inclined to feel that there is an agreement between the dealers to 
obtain more than a fair profit. 
RETAIL SELLING OF POULTRY 
Live poultry is sold at retail in Europe in several different ways. 
Nearly every town in continental Europe has one or more public 
markets in which farmers, small dealers, and larger dealers sell 
fruits, vegetables, meats, bread, poultry, eggs, and many other 
articles of food. To these open markets poultry is brought in crates 
or baskets, or the birds are tied by the feet and laid on the pavement. 
The housewife makes her selection personally and buys either by the 
piece or by weight. Weighing is usually done witli steelyards, which 
have now practically disappeared in the United States. 
