PROCEEDINGS CORN BELT MEAT PRODUCERS' ASSN. 549 



secured. This information should show the monthly and seasonable move- 

 ment from important reduction centers to market and the character and 

 disposition made of these receipts; also detailed information of the move- 

 ment from markets into other production or finishing regions to fairly 

 indicate its effect upon near and remote future supplies. Only in this way 

 can the comparative importance of different states and regions in the fur- 

 nishing of animals for finishing and slaughter be determined. And until 

 the market disposition of animals from different regions can be deter- 

 mined, it is not going to be possible to separate the movement of animals 

 for slaughter from that of animals for return to the country or range, and 

 without such knowledge a more orderly movement of each kind cannot be 

 brought about. Until the character of the animals marketed is known, 

 information of a dependable sort as to the relation between numbers in 

 various regions and probable consumption cannot be secured. In a gen- 

 eral way what is needed is the knowledge of the movement to the impor- 

 tant surplus markets from different states during different months of 

 various kinds and classes of live stock, according to the market disposi- 

 tion made of them, in order that the importance of each state in the fur- 

 nishing of different classes of meat animals may be determined. 



Character of the derived products. Live stock for slaughter is the raw 

 material from which are manufactured products for consumption and the 

 value of the raw material is limited if not strictly determined by the value 

 of the resultant products. In addition the character of these derived 

 products is a very important factor in determining the relation between 

 supply and price. With perishable or semi-perishable products that must 

 go into consumption rapidly and in volume corresponding to the market 

 movement of the raw material, the current supply — daily or weekly — is 

 apt to be more important in determining price fluctuations than is the case 

 with non-perishable products, and the total supply or seasonable supply is 

 less influential. With non-perishables and products requiring considerable 

 periods of time for preparation which can be held in storage indefinitely, 

 and which are so held from periods of heavy marketings to those of scant 

 supplies, the total seasonable rather than the daily fluctuating supplies 

 are of the most importance. Accordingly, then, as the derived products 

 are made up more or less of perishable or non-perishable commodities, will 

 short period distribution be of greater or less concern. Likewise the 

 amount and the value of by-product raw materials, the consumptive prod- 

 ucts from which are non-perishable by nature, is an important element in 

 determining the relationship between current supplies and price. The 

 greater the proportion of the values of these to that of the live animal the 

 less should be the effect of temporary variations on price, especially if the 

 probable total supplies can be fairly estimated. 



Likewise the character of the products in the matter of being reliably 

 graded or standardized can affect the manner in which the raw material 

 — the live stock — shall be marketed, and hence must be considered in a 

 plan for orderly marketing. Progress in marketing must be accompanied 

 or preceded by a better grading of the commodities to be marketed, and 

 the more easily the derived products lend themselves to such grading the 

 better can the rav -^laterial also be graded. As a general proposition the 



