MARKETING 219 



for the market in the field must be provided for if the 

 pork is to be produced in the most economical way. 



When to ship. — With a continually fluctuating market 

 a producer is at a loss to know when it is the most 

 opportune time to make a shipment. What the producer 

 desires is, of course, to sell at the best figure possible. 

 In this connection, where a producer ships to market 

 there is one general rule that most successful shippers 

 follow, and that is to ship on a rising rather than a de- 

 clining market. Too many shippers wait too long and 

 ship about the time the market breaks, and they realize 

 less on their shipments than they would have earlier. 

 The object should be, therefore, to ship early on a rising 

 market before the bulk of the shipments are received. 



Preparing hogs for shipment. — Before loading a ship- 

 ment of hogs they should be properly cared for so as to 

 avoid excessive shrinkage in transit and insure arrival 

 at the market in good order. Especially are hogs apt to 

 shrink considerably if they go direct from a grazing 

 patch containing succulent materials. Therefore, just 

 before shipment, one should aim to feed them feeds that 

 will stay with them, feeds not too heating or too con- 

 centrated in nature. Good feeds for this purpose are 

 corn and cob meal, crushed oats and ripe grain pasture. 

 This grain feeding is also desirable, since it will give the 

 hogs the appearance of having been grain-fed when the 

 grain shows up in the droppings, and they will be less 

 apt to be discriminated against. If the haul is very 

 long, provision must be made for feeding and watering 

 in transit. According to the present law, the railroad 

 has to unload and feed after 28 hours in transit, but the 



