380 Pork Production 



and prospective price of corn and hogs ; cholera epidemics ; 

 difficulty of obtaining cars for shipments ; unusual weather 

 conditions ; strikes and labor troubles at the large indus- 

 trial centers. 



From the standpoint of the packers, a more uniform 

 supply of hogs from month to month throughout the year 

 would make possible greater efficiency and economy in 

 handling the pork products. Their labor would be more 

 regularly employed, the capacity of their plants would 

 be greatly increased, and more reliable service by the 

 railroads in distributing their products would be assured. 

 Since the perfection of refrigeration, in 1880, the packers 

 are in position to handle as many hogs in summer as in 

 winter. 



In the interests of the farmer, a more uniform supply 

 of hogs on the market throughout the year would give the 

 packers and other buying agents less power over the 

 market. When the large runs accumulate in December 

 and January, the opportunity to break the market is a 

 chance which the buyers do not neglect. The result is 

 that the bulk of the packers' supplies are purchased when 

 the runs are heaviest and the prices lowest. Since supplies 

 during the summer are relatively light, the buyer pays 

 high prices for hogs only when his purchases are fewest. 

 These are advantages which the packers would not enjoy 

 if the monthly runs were more uniform. 



The conditions on the farms where the hogs are produced 

 and raised for market do not promise, however, any radical 

 change in time of marketing. There are a few tendencies 

 however, which operate in that direction. A larger number 

 of February and March pigs are being produced now than 

 formerly ; the use of the self-feeder in growing and fatten- 

 ing market pigs is becoming more general ; there is an in- 



