Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-04-02
Money in Hogs.

Ooiho "est anu raise nOg6 J.. VII
soon be the Oregon Boosters appeal tc
the farmers of the East 1t is not frlv
olous appeal, but one which, followed
with proper devotion and Enterprise
will make man rich as sure as night
follows day.
The building of mammoth So 500 .oOC
packing plant by the Swifts, large one
by Armonrs, location of smaller plants
by the Cudahys, the Hammonds and
others, who Will inevitably come to
PtNtland to protect their own interests,
Will, within few wears, mean COM
plete revolution ofthe livestock industry
of Oregon and the whole Northwest. The
men who are now engaged IN prelimi-
nary work on the Peninsula packing
plant give very good reasons why this is
so, and why hundreds of thousands of
dollars that are now being poured into
the pockets of Middle West livestock
growers can be left right here in Oregon
with the farmers; how, also, the differ
entIal OF y cents pound paid to the
railroads tor hauling can be added to
these ether thousands of dollars.
1t will take years for Oregon and the
Northwest to make the most OF the op-
portunities presented in this class. OF
trade, but even now the Oregon livestock
men have not The slightest realization of
the chances they are overlooking. The
proposed industrial development that
will result from the erection of huge
packing plants here has been too large
proposition for them to grasp, and it is
evident that many of them are still
skeptical.
Some figures bearing upon the present
livestock situation, particularly the hog
raising industry, supplied to the Evening
Telegram by President G. G. Colt, of the
Union Meat Company, and local repre-
sentative of the Swift interests, should
bring the livestock men face to face with
opportunities now in their grasp.
According to President Colt, the farm
ers of Oregon and Washington are not
raising halt enough hogs to take care of
even the local market, to say nothing of
developing any other. That is one rea-
son why the Swifts will not build a ca
pacity plant until the livestock situation
strengthens materially.
AT present local packers cannot buy
live hogs in quantities, large enough for
the present consumption. Because of
this. the local packers are buying live
hogs in Nebraskt, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois
and Missouri at the rate of from S5O, 900
to $4,000 a month for the Portland trade
alone. Add the Tacoma and Seattle
business to this. and the sum of money
hat leaves the Northwest each month
10 so into the hands of Eastern farmers
8 increased to from 1925 900 TO $3.50 900.
For whole year the figures are even
more astounding. for they mount up to
Il, 500 900 or 81 100000, and every cent
If this is slipping through the fingers of .
bS LIB VI OicSOu. ,
And yet this is only drop in the ,
)ucket to what will be needed when the .
packers begin their campaign ofipvasion
If the Orient and the Far North. The
untold millions of Japanese, Chinese,
Joreans, Manchurians and even of far
Siberia use enormous quantities OF pro-
'isions, and the Pacific coast will, when S
he time comes, be ready to supply this c
no"mous trade lar more satisfactorily =
han it is now being taken care of. But c
he question cannot be solved u til the t
packers get the livestock. t
Gong back to the heavy livestock bus a
ness that is even now being done with S
he Central Western states by local a
,ackers, there is another element that /
oregon farmers are sadly overl 1oking L
The railroads charge freight rate of H. 1
ents per pound for every live hog ship G
'ed into this territory. At this rate the c
monthly freight bill for shipments to !;
'ortland, Tacoma and Seattle is close to |
5000 every month, or 1000 year. t
"We would be only too glad to give '
)regon farmers this differential," said I
resident Colt Yesterday, 'if We could a
My convince them that they are over
boxing one OF the easiest ways of max II
ng money in the whole country. Oregon
ograIsers might lust as well have the :
undreds of thousands, yes, millioni of =
ollars that are being paid to livestock s
len of the Middle Western states for the