MARKETING BUTTER.
"Butter well made is half sold," says an old maxim; but one would naturally suppose that it was "quite sold," to observe the careless manner in which four-fifths of the farmers market their butter. Who has not observed the tactics of the country storekeeper in buying butter? Here comes Mrs. Smith, or Jones, who is known near and far as a good butter maker. See how anxious the merchant is to please her; he knows that her butter is in great demand and will be sold at a good price before night. He pays her the highest market price, and while weighing the neat prints of golden butter, carefully wrapped in spotless cloth or snow-white parchment paper, tells her that he wishes she could have brought in more. It's a pleasure to have the trade of such a woman. But now comes Mrs. Easy. Observe the cloudy expression on the merchant's countenance, as he tells her that he's overstocked with butter; that the market is "way down." You will notice that he charges her a "long price" for whatever he sells her, and dumps her butter, which is generally in mussy rolls, into the nearest shoe box. And who can blame him, knowing that he cannot sell Mrs. Easy's butter at home, but must ship it to the nearest market and sell it for "low grade dairy" at a price which seldom, if ever, nets him a profit.
One seldom hears of the markets being overstocked with "gilt edge" butter; on the other hand, the market is nearly always loaded down with "low grades" and grease.
The best plan for marketing butter is to endeavor to find customers at home, and sell as soon as possible. People that pack their butter and wait for a rise, are sometimes disappointed, and no butter can be as good four or six months after it is made as when fresh. It is far better, as a rule, to sell as soon as possible, at the best price you can get, than to wait for a rise that sometimes fails to come.
I receive many letters during the year from people asking me to find them city customers. Such customers, as a rule, are very exacting; they expect much, and paying a high price, have a perfect right to do so. These private customers (unless acquainted with the butter maker) seldom prove agreeable people to deal with. It is better to sell for a few cents less at home, and leave no chance for dissatisfaction, or if you cannot possibly sell all you make at home, better ship it to some reliable commission merchant, and leave him to fight out the battle with the customers. A good plan is to make up a sample pail or tub, and ship to the commission merchant with a request that he "judge" and report on it, with any suggestions he has to offer. Such a request will be sure to bring you a prompt report from any good dealer.
