National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-12-26

governments and the injurious effect Of I'M
founded prejudice upon sales In non-nter-
dieting countries;
PROF. DopGE's ADDRESS.
The swine-breedng and pork-producng
industry is one OF great Importance In the
United States. 1t is coextenslve In geo
graphical distribution with corn-growing,
an industry which fourshes at all eleva-
lions below 1900 feet on the Appalachian
range, and 5000 In the Rocky mountains.
AS corn includes two-thirds OF the annual
production OF all cereals, so swine-raising
stands first In meat production. As corn
fields extend, hogs multiply. When scarcity
lifts the price OF maize; the values of pork
products rise as the needle responds to the
call Of the magnet This country produces
four times as much corn as Europe, and
while our transatlantic friends continue TO
produce bit of bacon; In the absence Of
corn, half of the production is found In
Russia, Austria, Hungary, aud France,
where maize is possible. ictall OF Europe,
with more than five times the population Of
the United States, fails to show as many
swine as are found within our borders.
EXTENT or HOME CONSUMPTION.
We are a nation OF swine eaters, who,
with some help from foreigners, annually
eat very nearly our weight In pork. The
real average OF home consumption can he
little less than 20 pounds to each inhnbltant,
and the surplus exported has been, when at
its height, 20 TO 81 pounds more. We GER
talnly eat more pork than England con
sumes Of beef, after duplicating the allow
ance Of that prime article In the British
ration and we exceed the French quota OF
all meats in pork products alone, aud sur
pass by q still larger measure every other
| continental country Iowa, Missouri, aud
| Kansas have larger numbers OF swine than
| all Russia with 10000, 900 Of people to feed.
Indiana and Illinois have as many as Austria
and Hungary, and, with Kentucky and Ohio,
more than all the swine Of the German em-
| pire, and Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas
| more than the numbers In France.
| The wonderful elasticity OF this industry
| Is worthy OF notice. AS with corn there Is
never famine or glut; a small crop will
suffice: a large one only makes greater
abundance and lower prices. In both cases
the main consumption Is ut home. No good
patriot can wish to export corn from the
Missouri to Liverpool at q cost OF % cents
for transportation Of bushel that may
perhaps be bought for 20 cents, when pork
| or lard can be sent from the farm to the
same market for tenth Of its home value.
Now, that the foreign market has fallen
of, the quality cut up at the western pack
lighthouses has declined, as more than half
of this branch Of production has been eX-
ported in years Of heaviest foreign trade.
At the same time the home slaughtering by
farmers of all sections, by villagers and
jewellers In the small towns of the country,
has gone on without interruption, for there
is no embargo upon appetite, no decree OF
prohibition against consumption by the
farm laborer, the artisan, and operative of
| America,
From these hints of the situation, which
indicate loss Of 100000 to 100000 fat
hogs to the export trade, the suggestion
naturally arises that there is danger Of over
production in pork products, as In wheat or
cotton, or other crops, which are so doomed
by American enterprise working on pro-
ductive soils with Ingenious labor-saving
machinery. The difficulty is ali the greater,
in consequence of the natural and inevta-
bic iluctuation in demand. This irregu-
larity in the consumptiye movement is
slight in this country, because our people
are In the habit of eating, and have the
means to indulge their appetite, whatever
! the price. Yet the consumption is doubt
J less somewhat larger when prices are lower
than the average. The foreign demand is
more uncertain quantity. The require
ment is proportionate with the price If
that is high less is used, bread and other
vegetable food being substituted When q
! dish Of pork is only enjoyed with the Sun
day dinner and the other twenty meals are
meatless, what matters a further alb
| stinence Or II an operative indulge In
meat only once day, the higher cost COM
| pels thinner cut.
. Besides, when prices Ore high, home pro.
ducton in each importing country is stimu.
, lated. American competition is much less
effective; domestic markets are filled with
the native product and importation goes
down on a run. Thus when foreign re.
ceipts are reduced, domestic supplies are
rapidly increased, and vice versa. The see
saw Of domestic and foreign supply is thus
| kept up in European countries, greatly tc
, our disadvantage. Another factor in the
problem is the great prolifcacy OF swine
In foreign countries, especially when price:
run low, and production is discouraged
the mature breeding stock is slaughtered
numbers Of pigs decrease, and the produc
tion Of the next year declines manifestly
With sufficient rise In prices, q reservation
, from slaughter Of brood pigs increases will
marvellous rapidity the filters, which In
, few months may appear In the markets a
, meat that commands the highest rates.
} In this country the probable supply o
/ is one of the most difficult Of crop-report
ing puzzles. A large corn crop In neigh
[ borhood deficient in store pigs will ofte
, increase the price OF swine, which, goin
r fat to a market that feels the effect @
0 abundance of cheap corn, are sold Mt
: reduced price per pound, and sometimes O
@ O positive loss TO the producer.
S The early maturity of this genus Of dc
Q nestle animals working in the same diret
S ton with proliflcacy, assures very larg
proportion Of slaughtered animals to toti
2 numbers at any one time. In the boyin
n species, one in six slaughtered annually
n not a meager result, and in countries whei
i. the proportion of milch cows is large,
n may be one to seven or eight But In I'll
- case Of swine in this country, there al
two-thirds as many slaughtered as a sun
Il mer census would show as aggregate nun
= bers. In Germany, in 1888, rs per cen
were under one year old, and the broo
sows were less than 10 per cent.
d The estimated value Of the swine of Il
United States, at any one time, varyir
with the supply and the level OF prices ge
!. orally, has for several years ranged betwet
70 two and three hundred million dollars, y
~ our annual production OF meat produc
~ rarely falls to value OF S250OOO,0OO, al
10 in season Of high prices may reach $40t
81 100000. This fact illustrates the facility
IS fuctuation in pork production, and its !
20 evitable result sudden variations in h
~ scale OF prices. This fact is observed
"a foreign writers, and the difference In I'll
Id respect between beef and pork has be,
80 frequently adyerted to In the recent histo
30 OF changes In this industry. Belgium,
II instance, which still admits American POI
- products, has the densest population
~ any European country, and for eight yea
10 past mas prouuceu nearly iull supply
ia swine meat; yet its production is eXcee
SO ingly variable, and ifs prices of hogs al
~ meat, which were high In 1879 and 1Ss
q have since been declining regularly, In co
"a sequence Of the increase In home produ
W ton, which was stimulated by high price
o.. resulting from previous neglect Of swi
- raising. Heavy impOrtations have be
made by Belgium IN former years, but
- was mainly for distribution to other oou
tries. Receipts OF meat and lard viii
were 77,000,00O pounds IN 1870, were !
duced to l2,000,0OO in 1884.
! vARIADLESEss OF PRODUCTION.
? Growers and packers know well that t
- Yariableness of production and luCtuati