376 Pork Production 



the supervision of a government inspector and the products 

 disposed of to the manufacturers of soap, grease, and 

 fertilizers. 



SUPPLY AND PRICE FLUCTUATIONS AND THEIR USUAL 

 CAUSES 



Like any other commodity bought and sold on the open 

 market, the price of hogs in general is the reaction of the 

 demand for pork on the supply of hogs. According to 

 this law of supply and demand, when the supply of hogs 

 increases and the demand for pork remains constant the 

 price goes down ; and when the supply decreases and the 

 demand is constant the price rises. In the same way, 

 when the supply of hogs is constant, an increase in the de- 

 mand for pork tends to increase the price, while a falling 

 off in the demand tends to lower the price. These are 

 the natural and inevitable results when the market is 

 open and competition among buyers is free. 



In the following pages, a brief analysis is made of the 

 principal factors which affected the supply and price of 

 hogs on the Chicago market, during the ten-year period 

 from 1905 to 1914 inclusive. The Chicago market is 

 selected for this study because it is the largest and because 

 the prices paid there, with freight rates, determine the 

 prices paid at other market centers. Its dominant 

 position is shown by the fact that practically 28 per 

 cent of all the hogs received at the fourteen principal 

 markets of the country in 1915 was credited to the 

 Chicago yards. The receipts at the different markets 

 were as follows : ^ 



* Chicago Daily Farmers' and Drovers' Journal, Year Book 

 of Figures, 1917. 



