386 Pork Production 



of this principle. High absolute prices for corn seem to 

 cause the marketing of unfinished pigs, even though the 

 price of hogs for the time being is correspondingly high. 

 From year to year, weights average lowest in those years 

 when the receipts are highest. The factor of weight, con- 

 sequently, tends to equalize the supply from year to year, 

 as it does from month to month. 



Seasonal variations in price. 



The average prices paid for light and heavy hogs by 

 months on the Chicago market during the ten-year period 

 from 1905 to 1914 inclusive, are shown graphically in 

 Fig. 16. The average supply curve is also given for pur- 

 poses of comparison. According to these curves for light 

 and heavy hogs, hogs sell highest in September and April 

 and lowest in December and January. Winter prices are 

 relatively low and summer prices high. The more im- 

 portant of the causes responsible for these typical price 

 variations throughout the year will now be considered. 



That an intimate relationship exists between the price 

 of hogs in any month and the supply, is clearly apparent 

 on a comparison of the price and supply curves in Fig. 16. 

 The price of hogs is highest, on the average, in those 

 months when the average supply is lowest ; and when the 

 supply is heaviest, the price is lowest. Exceptions to 

 this rule are occasionally to be found, of course, in indi- 

 vidual months, notably, for example, during the closing 

 months of 1909 and the early months of 1911. The ex- 

 ceptions, however, are temporary and more apparent than 

 real. In the long run, a deficiency in the supply of live 

 hogs is bound to increase prices, while a surplus of live 

 hogs is certain to reduce them. 



In the summer and early fall, heavy weight hogs pre- 



