MARKETING LIVE STOCK IN THE SOUTH. 13 



of the public abattoir. This has tended toward improving the local 

 market for live stock from the surrounding territory. 



The charges for slaughtering vary somewhat in the different cities, 

 depending largely on the services rendered and the distribution of 

 offal. The more common rates are $1.25 per head for cattle and 75 

 cents per head for hogs, sheep, calves, and goats. This includes 

 slaughter, two inspections, five days' cold storage, and delivery to any 

 part of the city. 



Farmers located near a city or town which has a public abattoir 

 and at which there is a local ice plant, where meat may be cured, are 

 excellently situated to market their hogs as cured meats. Meat can 

 be chilled thoroughly at the abattoir, and if then cured at the ice 

 plant, danger of spoiling during the curing process practically is 

 eliminated. 



The municipal abattoir, although a comparatively new undertak- 

 ing in this country, may be considered a factor in the development 

 and extension of local markets for live stock. It is not without its 

 limitations, however, principal among which are the competition 

 with local butchers and the difficulty of obtaining competent manage- 

 ment. 



MEETING MARKET DEMANDS. 



It is of the utmost importance that the producer of live stock 

 should understand fully the requirements of the market before offer- 

 ing his product for sale. This is true especially of the southern hog 

 producer. So-called " soft pork " is produced in the Southern States 

 because the hogs are fattened on peanuts or similar feeds. The result 

 is that not only the large packers at centralized markets, but many 

 of the smaller packers in Southern States, discriminate against south- 

 ern hogs, a margin of 1| to 2 cents per pound in favor of corn- fed 

 as compared with peanut-fed hogs being offered at most markets. As 

 a rule, the large packers buy southern hogs either with a guarantee to 

 " kill out hard " or outright at lower prices. Numerous instances 

 were recorded during the winter season of 1915-16 in which farmers 

 had difficulty in disposing of their hogs, owing to the limited demand 

 of local retail dealers and to the fact that local shippers who fur- 

 nished the only other outlet would not venture to buy hogs on account 

 of the discrimination against southern hogs at the centralized mar- 

 kets. It is evident, therefore, that farmers who are dependent for the 

 sale of their hogs upon markets of this kind are at a disadvantage 

 unless they produce hogs that will " kill out hard." 



Experiments conducted at the Alabama Experiment Station indi- 

 cate that peanuts, soy beans, or other grazing crops are an essential 

 factor in the most economical production of pork. Such feeds, how- 

 ever, particularly peanuts, when fed alone, produce a soft pork, 

 which is objectionable to the butcher and packer, as well as for home 



