578 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



has been taken up by the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Pack- 

 ers and Stockyards Administration with the large packers at these 

 markets, with the result that many thousands of dollars are being 

 added annually to the prices paid for such live stock and the cam- 

 paign for tuberculosis eradication materially aided. 



SOFT AND OILY HOGS. 



The Packers and Stockyards Administration is cooperating with 

 the Bureau of Animal Industry in working out plans for the identi- 

 fication of soft and oily hogs purchased and slaughtered by packers 

 as a means of developing an equitable solution of the problem with 

 which the producers of southern hogs are contending. 



STRING SALES. 



The practice known as " string sales," or tying together, which has 

 been followed at many stockyards, and which consists, broadly speak- 

 ing, in most instances of the sale of live stock belonging to different 

 owners in one transaction at one price, has been carefully investigated 

 by the Packers and Stockyards Administration and the policy deter- 

 mined upon that the practice shouhl be eliminated or safeguards 

 provided in order to prevent unfair advantage being taken of in- 

 dividual owners. The conclusions of the Packers and Stockyards 

 Administration have been announced and are being put into effect 

 by the live-stock market supervisors with the cooperation of the 

 commission men and packer buyers. Nothing in the position of the 

 Packers and Stockyards Administration, however, prevents the co- 

 operative sale of live stock to the best advantage of the owners when 

 the plan has been understood and agreed upon. 



FILLING ORDERS FROM CONSIGNMENTS. 



Another practice that was found in existence to a considerable 

 extent in some markets was that on the part of commission men of 

 filling purchase orders received from customers out of live stock con- 

 signed to the commission men for sale without placing such con- 

 signments of live stock on the open market. The Packers and Stock- 

 yards Administration is establishing, through its supervisors, the 

 principle that live stock consigned to commission men for sale at 

 their resj^ective stockyards must be placed on the open market for a 

 reasonable length of time before purchase orders received by the same 

 commission men are filled out of such consignments, and then such 

 purchase orders should be filled at prices equal to or better than those 

 afforded by the open market. 



" MARKING UP." 



Another practice, occasionally designated as " marking up," was 

 found, whicli consists, in substance, of the sale by a commission man 

 of a lot of animals of diffQ*-ent grades at one price and then account- 

 ing to the shipper according to the various grades at different prices 

 which represent the judgment of the commission man as to the cur- 

 lent market values. It was found that abuse was resulting from this 

 practice through its deceptive effect upon the shipper as to the real 



