376 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



too many men who will have various reasons for selling the hogs 

 and rushing them in, but the idea is that all the farmers would 

 have the knowledge of the number of hogs there are in the state 

 ready for market and what they should bring according to the 

 number to be marketed and then they are in a position to exercise 

 their own judgment. Now we are in the dark, but if the great major- 

 ity knew what the conditions were it would tend to level prices and 

 operate in that way. Now as to disease. That can also be reported 

 and when there is an outbreak of disease every township would re- 

 port to the state secretary the number of hogs lost. Then they know 

 exactly what the loss is and what numbers there are left to market. 



W. C. McGavock, Springfield, 111.: I am not a hog breeder, but 

 the cause of all these high prices is undoubtedly, as has been stated, 

 the rushing to market a couple of years ago or more and ever 

 since of a big hog supply because corn was too high to feed hogs 

 at the prices they were bringing. No combination you could get 

 into would have kept the farmers from doing that. You could not 

 store them away. They had to market them. There is nothing that 

 would have kept them from going to market. This information 

 would be a good thing, but we would have to have it from all over 

 the United States. 



Mr. Hammer: I just want to answer that argument. When 

 the corn got high and everybody got into a panic the packers took 

 advantage of it and hammered the prices down and if they had 

 advanced the price of hogs in proportion to the price of corn there 

 would not have been any panic. The farmers are the only class 

 that is not organized. Even the threshing machine men settle on 

 what they are going to charge. If you will organize and get the 

 information you will only be protecting yourselves. 



