2 BULLETIN 682, U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to obtain higher market returns, the Department of Agriculture 
made investigation of the sources of butter supply of various cities 
of the United States, the prevailing grade or quality of, butter sold in 
different markets, and the prices paid for different grades. The 
investigations were begun in the spring of 1914 and continued until 
the fall of 1915. During that time over 1,000 creameries in all sec- 
tions of the United States were visited by representatives of the 
department. The grade of butter they produced was determined, 
and additional information was obtained relative to their market 
outlets, the methods by which their outputs were marketed, and the 
prices obtained for various lots of different grades of butter shipped 
to different merchants within the same and different markets. 
The sources of supply, the quality of butter demanded by different 
classes of trade, and the methods of market distribution were studied 
in more than 50 of the largest cities in every part of the United 
States. Various representatives of the department were engaged in_ 
this work, but all comparisons of quality between different cream- 
eries and different markets were based on the scorings of a single 
expert judge in the commercial grading of creamery butter.* 
WHOLESALE QUOTATIONS ON WHICH CREAMERY BUTTER 
PRICES ARE BASED. 
Creamery butter, which is properly made from a good grade of 
cream, will retain its desirable qualities for a sufficient time to per- 
mit it to be marketed at any season in practically any domestic or 
foreign market. Refrigeration and transportation facilities in the 
United States are such that it is possible to ship butter to practically 
every city in the country. Creamery men, however, like factory 
managers in other industries, generally have sought to sell their 
product in local markets as much as possible. Numerous cities mn 
New England offer the best market outlets for the creameries in that 
section of the country. Likewise, the creameries of New York, and 
of Pennsylvania, as well as those of most of the Southern and 
Western States, have found satisfactory market outlets in the same 
regions in which they are located. 
The production of creameries located in some sections cf the coun- 
try, particularly the North Central States, is greatly out of proportion 
to the local market demands of those regions. The great majority of 
creameries in that territory are located in rural districts where they 
have practically no local trade to supply, nor are there any neigh- 
1 This investigation was made with the assistance of the Dairy Division, Bureau of 
Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. M. P. A. Sondergaard, dairy 
manufacturing specialist of that bureau, inspected and scored the various lots of butter 
on which he was able to obtain first-hand knowledge regarding both buying and selling 
prices. 
Fa) 
