Marketing and Markets 



377 



Monthly variations in the supply. 



In Fig. 13 curves are plotted which show graphically 

 the actual supply of hogs by months for each of the ten 

 years and the average monthly supply for the entire ten- 

 year period. These curves have two rather significant 

 features. The curves for the different years are remark- 

 ably uniform in their direction, and in practically every 

 year the period of heavy runs falls in December and 

 January and the light runs in April and September. 

 From September on to January, the supply rises rapidly 

 and regularly. 



It will now be considered why the supply of hogs varies 

 from month to month throughout the year. The uniform- 

 ity in the direction of the curves for the different individual 

 years suggests the probability that these seasonal varia- 

 tions are the result of factors which are quite constant 

 from year to year. 



The heavy run of hogs which is common in December, 

 January, and February is due to the fact that this is the 

 normal time for the marketing of pigs farrowed the pre- 

 ceding spring. About 75 per cent of the hogs coming to 

 the Chicago market are spring or summer farrowed. In 

 1916 the Bureau of Crop Estimates reported that 60 per 

 cent of the pigs born each year are farrowed in March, 

 April, and May. The general practice is to feed old corn 



