slight fall, then a rise to a peak in October a few weeks after the end 
of the enquiry, followed by a steady decline. Retail prices appeared 
to follow the general trend, with only a very short time lag. 
Over the period of the enquiry, retail prices ranged from 1s. 4d. 
to 2s. 6d. per Ib. The majority of prices were nearer the bottom than 
the top of this range. Very few instances of shops selling at prices 
involving an odd halfpenny per lb. were found. In Table 19 the 
shops selling at these prices have been classified as selling at the 
nearest penny above the actual price. In most cases this was the 
price that was in fact effective, since the majority of sales were in 
half and quarter pounds. It is probably the desire to avoid odd 
farthings in small sales which accounts for the evenness of the prices. 
In the larger towns the First Survey lasted about six weeks, and 
during this time a price change of a penny probably occurred in most 
shops. The duration of the Second Survey was shorter, but took place 
during a period when butter prices were rising comparatively fast. 
Apart from seasonal changes, prices varied according to kind of 
butter, area and type of shop. It was on the whole unusual to 
find a shop selling butter from one country at more than one price, 
but occasionally two qualities were being retailed at prices differing 
by 1d. per 1b. In the following tables, therefore, the number of 
prices recorded for one type is sometimes greater than the number 
of shops recorded as stocking that type. 
The extreme range of prices of any one bulk butter in one town 
was generally about 3d. or 4d., but the majority of prices seldom 
differed by more than 14. and the Co-operatives and large multiples 
nearly always sold at a uniform price throughout the town. The 
price of Irish butter varied more than any other. In London the 
range of prices was much wider than in the other areas. 
As would be expected, the high-class shops tended to stock the more 
expensive butters and to sell all butters at a price slightly above the 
average ; the shops classified as ““ low "’ tended on the whole to stock 
the cheaper types, but it was noted that the average prices of each 
type were rather above those ruling in the middle-class shops. 
The difference was never great, but except in the case of Irish butter, 
it persisted throughout all areas. 
26