10 BULLETIN 682, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to various classes of trade. It was found impracticable, however, to 
trace any considerable number of lots from the retailer back to the 
creamery from which it had been shipped, because the creamery’s 
stencil number usually is scraped off the tubs when they are weighed 
and inspected by the first-hand market receiver. 
In Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and St. Paul 
an effort was made to check prices actually paid by various represent- 
ative retailers with the current wholesale quotations for different 
grades of butter. To make the findings of these quality and price 
investigations comparable for the different cities, the buying and sell- 
ing prices of all goods were compared with the New York wholesale 
quotations for Extras. No allowances were made for differences in 
freight rates from source of supply to these different cities; hence | 
the average premiums paid in Chicago and the Twin Cities are con- | 
siderably lower than those paid in New York and Philaed!lphia. In 
fact, for oleomargarine, process butter, and the lower grades of 
creamery butter the prevailing prices were below those of New York 
Extras. 
A comparison of the prices at which different grades of creamery 
butter and their substitutes were sold in New York, Philadelphia, 
Chicago, St. Paul, and Minneapolis is shown in Table 3. The com- 
parison is based on the New York quotations for Extras, and the 
prices are expressed In margins of differences between the highest 
New York quotations and the prices paid by retailers and consumers 
in the other cities listed. Whenever the price was less than the New 
York quotation, the difference is expressed as a minus quantity ; that 
is, the figures show the prevailing discount instead of the premium 
at which such goods were sold. 
It is noteworthy that jobbing and retailing prices in general vary 
in accordance with the grade of goods. Table 3 shows, however, that 
the differences in prices of different grades of goods are not the same 
in all markets. In New York 80 lots of Firsts were bought by re- 
tailers at prices which on the average were 1.2 cents below those paid 
for Extras. In Philadelphia and Chicago, however, the differences 
between average prices for Extras and Firsts were 1.7 cents and 0.8 
cent, respectively. Specially advertised brands, with established 
reputations for exceptional quality, were sold at retail at premiums 
averaging from 9.1 cents in New York to 14.2 cents in Philadelphia. 
While there was a general tendency in all markets for prices to vary 
in accordance with the quality of butter sold, there were occasional 
exceptions, however, especially in the case of buyers who based their 
judgment of quality mainly upon known stencil numbers or trade- 
marks. For example, in Chicago the average retail price of 14 lots 
of Extras was lower than that of 159 lots of Firsts. 
