The Best Time to Sell.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 55, 6 February 1885, Page 4

The Best Time to Sell.

The best time to sell butter and cheese, and indeed all farm produce, is the earliest date at which it can be got m condition for market. Whoever holds butter or other perishable goods, holds them at a risk. Butter depreciates from the moment it is made till it is consumed, and is liable to fluctuations m price, which are as often against the holder as m his favor, and he is always losing the interest on its value as he holds it. Holding for a higher price is one form of speculation — a business farmers have no occasion to indulge m. It is true a rise m property may sometimes be foreseen, making it preety safe to hold for a time, but when a dairyman would not think it wise or safe to buy butter or cheese to hold for a better price, he had better not hold his own. The fact that it turns out that he might sometimes have done better by holding than by selling when his goods are first ready for market, is not a sufficient reason for his holding at another time, for the chances will as often be against him as for him, and whichever way it is, he must always endnre the losses from injury, shrinkage, depreciation, waste, and use of capital. Therefore, as a rule, we say it is most prudent to sell always when products are ready for market, and most especially so with butter, which is 'always snffering from depreciation m quality.