Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-03-26
IN BUTTER AND EGG
 PRICES UNUSUAL
Panicky Market F ollowed Statement from Food
 Administration.


 ] cent fluctuations in butter and egg prices might naturally ask "Who IS
 rocking the boat?" When ill three weeks butter and egg prices each fall 21 cents, and then butter prices
 hegin to swing up again, the con; snmer thinks that this must be caused by manipulation, and that temper ari,v the law of supply and demand l is not in operation. The real facts l in the case are interesting. l There are two main factors whlch
 hrought about this unusual drop III butter. both of which were absolute- l lv unforeseen. Either factor alone
 mroba,ply would have been sufficient 1 to unsat the market--but taken to-
 pether, the result was inevitable.
 The first factor requires some hl- flo exclamation. In August the gov ernment communicated approximate Ilv 60 per cent of the storage stoch of butter for the use of the army |nayy. and allied countries, ana notl- fled the trade that even thls laIse amount would not in all aprooaolli.y meet government requirements. l,ilo !, left severe shortage in regular 4 commercial stocks and resulted III
 
 ,rising market.
 Market Panicky. : In early January, however, the food administration announced that
 the government would not require the full amount of communicated sup i, nlias No one knew the amount l which would be thrown on the mar , ket and the trade became panlcKy.
 Retailers stopped buying, m antlci- nation of much lower prices, anu I. s hecame evident that a severe read
 ;ustment of market values would oc
 cur if confidence were to be restoreo'
 As is usual under panic condltlohs' $ tho eraction was too severe; prices l. dronped below correct values, anu .- the tendency is now upward to leVels
 warranted by conditions. ...o,
 This reaction has been lntensilleo
 inv the decision of the food admnls- 1T tration to reinstate all orders WHICH had been cancelled by this first all . nouncement. At present the aVali' l. able supply is far short Of meeths Q the demand at reasonable prices, lol
 the demand far exceeds the supply
 receints having materially decreasee
 following the slump in prices. Wltn a. increased demand and decreased pro Id duction. we are experiencing an Ill m ov;tahIe reaction from the recent de ht cline. ,,;o, .' The second main factor, whlci lc caused butter prices to fall, also al ne fected eggs. This factor, which coui'
 not have been predicted. was the uh
 usual]y heavy production of butte
 in January, and eggs ill January a!i' he Fehruary. This was due to th re snring- like weather which has pre- or vailed over practically the ehuf e- country.
 Us The season of heavy production 0
 eprs normally begins about on
 Tonnth later than it began this veal
 and that of butter three month
 later We have had abnormal cond'
 lions which no one anticipated ds This greater production duflh January and February of 1913 IS r' is- f,ected in the statistics of receipts ok New York. which market is repro he sentative of conditions througho' ,fn inc country Receipts of butter wei /, running about 35,000 packages me weak during the early part or D' on cemher: then increased productlo Dr. began to make itself felt and the 1i1 L+ ure mounted rapidly, until durin N the week ending January i4th, ol V" 624 packages were receNed on tl ion New York market. the weekly arr
 als having almost doubled III ol h. month. Up to February llth the U 'no tai New York receipts since May Il ng amounted to 136.1S2 packages in c: 35 cess of the receipts for the same p are riod last year. Reflecting these col an ditions. wholesale prices on lreS Tho creamery stock, extras, dropped ITO ' annroximately 6S cents to AZ cen nas her pound in three weeks.
 on, Egg Market Flooded.
 ble The figures for eggs show evt
 a more surprising conditions. Week III" receipts of eggs in New York Cl yen rose from approximately 37,ooo cas 35 in early December to 120,2bl cas law for the week ending February zot ar an increase of 225 per cent. Du ie ing the week ending January 2e' llso ahout 12.OOO cases arrived; the ne on- weel, receipts jumped to 62,O00; whl lsi during the week ending FeDrua ,tb l 25th. as stated above, l2o,aol cas
 entered the city. The total fecelp eA' since March 1st show an excess ow- approximately one million cases ov
 a the receipts for the same period ia of wear. Is it surprising that whoiesa
 prices tumbled 70 cents to 39 cent not The law of supply and demand He working 24 hours every day just ,n,t if always hasva and always Will, Wn .,. we need is wider publicity and ed 19 cation of the public regarding |