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that has for some time been going on, more espcially in the province of Ontario, on 

 which the export bacon trade chiefly depends. Another problem than that of feeding 

 confronts the Canadan pig raiser. Between the feeding pen and the final market there 

 is a gulf fixed and to bridge this most concerns the pig raiser. The Commission 

 hear it in their respective neighbourhoods, the market places, the institute meetings, 

 the winter fairs, in fact wherever farmers congregate to discuss their industry, that, 

 the bacon industry has no stability, and that the producers do not receive their share 

 of the returns from the market. In the face of this we have the continuous high prices 

 that have maintained, not in the summer alone when values are almost always high, 

 but right through the autumn and into the winter even at the holiday season when so 

 many householders are expected to be using poultry. But, say the great army who have 

 sold their sows 'what would have happened had we all continued raising hogs at the 

 rate of 1903? allow the supply to reach a high pouit and the great gulf is ready 

 to yawn at us as ugly as before. We are getting along very well without pigs. 

 Satisfactory help is not easy to get and our calves, foals and fowls are making very good 

 use of the skim-milk.' This is the feeling that is experienced throughout the country 

 and enables the wise, persistent hog raiser, because of the short supply, to make a fine 

 profit from his swine. 



Then there is the grievance about buyers paying at the flat rate for all kinds, 

 light, ideal and heavy. Much pains have been taken to produce the long, fleshy singer 

 which brings the producer no more than the cheaper fat pig that is produced in the corn 

 belt. The packers again get the credit of reaping the fine returns from the superior 

 hogs after purchasing them at the same rate as the less valuable kind. The packers 

 blame the buyers and the buyers keep on as they have been doing while no concerted 

 effort is being made to bring about a satisfactory solution of the problem. The farmer 

 is following his inclination but what is to become of the bacon industry? 



In Ireland, in England and in Denmark, the Commission compared this with the 

 state of the industry which in those countries was found to be sailing upon a com- 

 paratively smooth sea. It is true that producers and packers in the Old World have not 

 always seen alike and even yet troubles and doubts arise. Each country in its owh 

 way manages to solve these problems, not by dropping the industry but by discovering 

 the weak points and applying what appears to be the best remedy. In some cases the 

 packers have taken the initiative, in others it has been left to the producers. In 

 England we have examples of both. The Harris Wiltshire curers allow no grievance to 

 grow. With the least evidence of dissatisfaction the farmers are asked to meet the 

 packers to examine for themselves the point at issue. Such meetings are not con- 

 fined to interviews in which the books are revealed to prove a theory, but the whole 

 question is thrashed out until confidence and harmony are restored. The packers in 

 this exercise good business judgment, as they know well that their success depends 

 on the supply and kind of hogs they are able to get from week to week and from month 

 to month. Co-operation between the two is alike good for the packer and the producer. 



In the Eastern counties co-operation works out in another way. The buyer be- 

 came a dominating factor and having no irhportant business at stake he undertook 

 to take more than his share of the returns of the industry. The impression gained 

 foothold that an understanding between buyers had been reached, but this did not drive 

 farmers out of pig raising. The Eastern Counties Farmers' Co-operative Association 

 engaged an experienced salesman and trusted him to find a market. This man drives 

 an automobile up and down the roads and farmers are so well satisfied with the results 

 that they raise in that district more pigs than anywhere else in Great Britain. 



In Ireland the Commisson heard some grumbling about the buyers. The pig fair 

 system of selling is not quite satisfactory. Buyers usually arrive at the town the eve- 

 ning before and it is felt that competition is not always as keen as it ought to be. Here, 

 however, buying on merit is the rule for every bunch of pigs calls for a long discussion 

 and the good pigs get the preference. Then the old established packing firms announce 

 their prices for first-class hogs and usually set it high enough to get most that are 

 offered. 



