FACTOES AFFECTING THE PRICE OF HOGS 
13 
DEMAND FACTORS 
The demand for hogs ultimately rests upon how much meat con- 
sumers of hog products, both in this country and in Europe, are 
willing to buy at the prices asked. When prices for hog products 
drop, relatively to the prices of other products, consumers ordinarily 
will buy somewhat larger quantities, and when prices go up, consumers 
ordinarily buy somewhat less. This is the usual way by which most 
people readjust their purchases as the relative prices which they 
have to pay for different products change. But when consumers 
are willing to buy a larger quantity at the same price, or are willing 
to buy the same quantity as before at a higher price, then there has 
been a real increase in demand. And when such a real increase in 
demand does take place, its effect is speedily felt in the hog market. 
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF PORK AND LARD 
POUNDS 
190708 09 '10 'II "12 '13 '14 15 '16 "17 '18 19 '20 '21 "22 '23 '24 '25 '26 '27 '28 
Fig. 12. — Annual per capita consumption of pork and lard, as estimated. There has not been 
any very apparent trend in consumption, either upward or downward 
RELATION OF THE VALUE OF MONEY TO HOG PRICES 
As indicated in Figure 11, the price of hog products rose rather 
steadily from 1904 to the end of the war period; yet, as shown in 
Figure 12, the average per capita consumption of pork and lard (as 
shown by the " disappearance*' of meat produced under inspected 
slaughter) remained about the same over the period, though varying 
somewhat from year to year. One important reason why con- 
sumers were willing to pay constantly increasing prices during 
this period, without reducing their consumption, was that the money 
with which they made their purchases was gradually becoming more 
and more plentiful, and consequently of lower value or "purchasing 
power." 
These changes in the value of money are measured with a fair 
degree of accuracy by using the index number of prices, which 
measures the average quantity of other things which can be bought 
for a given number of dollars. The changes in the value of money 
from 1904 to 1925 are shown in Figure 13, as percentages of the value 
in 1913. 
Comparing Figure 11 with Figure 13, it is evident that much of 
the upward sweep of hog prices from 1904 to 1920 did not represent 
