8 BULLETIN 682, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the country creameries.of Minnesota have found that their ship- 
ments to Philadelphia and New York generally bring the highest 
net market returns. On the other hand, a large number of Iowa and 
Wisconsin creameries have found that their net price returns are 
usually the highest in the Chicago market. The tastes of different 
buyers vary, and, in the absence of uniform standards of quality, the 
wholesale price quotations of various market centers are not. entirely 
reliable as guides for determining the most profitable market outlet 
for the output of any particular creamery. The only way in which 
a creamery man can determine the market-in which his particular 
“make” of goods will net the highest market return is by the ex- 
periment of “splitting shipments” between different markets. It 
is through such trial shipments that most country creameries have 
selected their established market outlets. 
SEASONAL CHANGES IN MARKET STANDARDS. 
Tt is a well-recognized fact that the quality of output of most 
creameries varies with the season of the year. If the market standard 
were constant and inflexible, a large portion of the daily arrival 
during the spring season would grade as Extras, but the market 
standards are flexible and change somewhat in accordance with the 
quality of the general run of the current market receipts. Accord- 
ing to the rules and regulations of the New York Mercantile Ex- 
change, Extras may score 91, 92, or 938, according to variations in 
the quality of current receipts at different seasons of the year. The 
exact standard which is to prevail from time to time is determined 
by a committee of the exchange. None of the trade organizations 
of other cities has adopted this “ seasonal sliding scale of standards”; 
nominally they adhere to a constant standard requiring a score of 
either 91 or 93 for Extras. (See Table 1.) A comparison of the 
average scores of lots which were representative of goods regularly 
accepted as Extras in both Chicago and New York showed, however, 
that the actual standards of the trade in both of those markets varied 
with the season of the year. In the winter of 1914-15, according 
to the scorings of current market receipts, the Chicago standard was 
approximately one point lower than the New York standard, 
although the nominal standard of the Chicago market was 98, as 
compared with a 92 standard in New York. | 
The difficulty of comparing Chicago quotations with those of New 
York is further increased by the fact that at certain seasons its trade 
demands change so that its standards are then practically the same 
as those of the New York market. The reason for this is that during 
the season of surplus production of creamery butter the demands of 
storage operators dominate the market situation. Many creameries 
in Minnesota which regularly ship to the New York market consign 
