METHODS OF STUDYING AGRICULTURAL QUESTIONS 429 



of questions. Has some pestilence ravaged the hog lots of the 

 country ? Has there been a failure of the crops which are used 

 as hog feed? Corn being the principal hog feed, we may ask, 

 has the demand for corn for other purposes been unusually 



Figure 23. — Relation of the price and supply of hogs to the price of corn 



at Chicago. 



The price curves are so drawn that when one bushel of corn produces 10 pounds 

 of pork, the amount which the hog price curve rises above the corn price curve 

 represents the net returns from the extra labor of breeding and feeding. In 1906 

 and 1907 there was a large profit in feeding corn to hogs, while in 1908 there was 

 a loss. The figures on the margin represent the monthly high price of corn in 

 cents per bushel ; the monthly high price of hogs in tenths of cents per pound and 

 the monthly receipts of hogs in tens of thousands. 



great ? These conjectures as to the cause of the scarcity of hogs 

 leads to the charting of the Chicago price of corn. 



During the years 1906 and 1907 the price of hogs was very 

 high in proportion to the price of corn. The supply of hogs 

 was relatively short during the early part of the period, but by 

 the beginning of 1908 the supply of hogs on the Chicago market 



