544 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 



may result from such an organization. Of course, at this time, with the 

 reduced prices of live stock, any little saving along the line that can be 

 effected is very welcome, but if such organization is going to accomplish 

 the greatest thing that it can accomplish it will be along the line of bring- 

 ing about a better market distribution of live stock, and I want to consider 

 several phases of this problem of better market distribution. 



Perhaps the greatest weakness in the present situation in live stock 

 marketing is that marketing takes place in almost complete ignorance 

 of the supplies to be marketed. None of the factors in the industry, pro- 

 ducers, railroads, market agencies or slaughterers have any adequate 

 knowledge of supplies to come either in the immediate or more distant 

 future. The only guide to probable numbers is the amount of the imme- 

 diately past receipts and the receipts during similar periods in other years. 

 Admittedly the securing of such information in an industry of such mag- 

 nitude drawing its supplies from so widely extended and dissimilar sources 

 would be most difficult. But in the lack of such information the whole in- 

 dustry works more or less in the dark and long view plans of handling 

 either the animals or their products cannot be made. The risk element is 

 thus made larger, but, unfortunately for the producer, the other interests 

 either do not share in this risk or are able to shift it back upon him. If 

 production is too large or is poorly distributed and prices decline the 

 effects of this decline are borne almost entirely by the producer for his 

 profits, alone, depend primarily upon price. 



Another grave fault of present methods of distribution is that no organ- 

 ized attempt is made to accommodate supplies of live stock to consumptive 

 demand for meats. Animals are sent to market, are slaughtered and the 

 products are pushed into consumptive channels, and consumption is forced 

 to follow slaughter, especially with perishable products that make up a 

 large part of the whole. The controlling element in all the associated 

 activities is the loading at country points and the resulting arrival of stock 

 at the market. The railroads, stock yards companies, selling agencies 

 and slaughterers must carry on their operations according to this volume. 

 And as this is a changing one both as to days of the week, weeks of the 

 month and months of the season, each must be equipped to handle a peak 

 of supplies for these different periods which results in a labor and over- 

 head cost unnecessarily high. To the extent that these variations in live 

 stock supplies cannot be smoothed out in distributing the products the 

 prices of these latter must fluctuate to bring about a demand that will 

 absorb the total with a resulting unstable price range. 



Another defect is that there is no method by which temporarily excess- 

 ive receipts can be checked by concerted efforts of shippers but that this 

 can only be brought about by price reductions. These occasional excess- 

 ive receipts are due, in part, to developing conditions in regions contribut- 

 ing large supplies to seasonable movements which accelerate the normal 

 movement, but in great part to chance in that too many shippers decided 

 to ship on a given day or in a given week. 



Daily distribution within the week is very faulty and makes efficient 

 handling very difficult. The tendency to make use of Sunday to move 

 stock to market and the prevalence of Saturday as a marketing day re- 



