The Mena weekly star., 1909-12-23
Shipping Hogs from Polk County.
o the Fditor of The Star.

Shipping Hogs from Polk County. To Editor ot The Star.
 Dear Sir: There seems to be ; great many people who have little idea of the extent of hog raising in Polk county.
 It seems from correspondence ia The Star that the southwes' part of the county pays large sum every year for packing house meat, while the eastern part ha: always sold more than it has bought. Last spring 1 had a statement from one shipper who said, if 1 remember correctly, that his firm shipped one year re ceutly 3l carloads from Mena
 Think of it, Boosters-3l car. loads shipped out iu one season, besides the hundreds of head slaughtered at Mena and the oth- CT hundreds killed and cured on the farms of eastern Polk and western Montgomery counties.
 The season mentioned was an exceptional good one, there being a good mast.
 If any one will take the trouble to write to Jesse Reece now of Black Springs, enclosing stamp, he will no doubt give them the correct figures as to the sh p ments, but I am pretty sure l re- member 1t correctly. There is hardly even year without more or less hogs shipped out. One year recently buyer came from Oklahoma and bought nice loi of hogs to ship out there to fat ten, and I have learned that an other party from Oklahoma has been buying within the last few weeks for like purpose.
 Now what we want 10 know is. why do those parties buy Arkan- sas hogs to ship over there unless they can pay the freight aud ge' the same value cheaper than they can buy at acme. And Oklaho- ma being a great corn state with hog law. can any one figure 1t out why Polk county needs a hog law?
 As to Polk county bacon, ask Blake Jones of Mena how much home made bacon he has handled in the last few years and where he got it.
 As to the kind of hogs we raise they are not prize takers or rag IT, backs. but good geueral pur- pose hog. One of my neighbo-s marketed some l5-months-old pigs last spring that averaged little over 250 pounds each, and he tells me they cost him not more than two cents pound to raise and fatten. He had a fine Berkshire SOW, but alas, one of his neigh. bor's fences was none too good and when she had walked in a few times she would not stay out, and he sold her to be slaughtered for less than half her value.
 There may be few large land owners and people about little towns that hog law would bene- fit but the great ajorlty of small owners and all the renters would be greatly injured by 1t.
 Now If that correspondent who promised few weeks ago to teach us so many things has any thing that will do common farmer any good, let him bring 4 right on. We are still waiting. There are some of us who still hold to some of our old fashion ed ways until we find something better. Besides corn and cotton we stlll raise oats and wheat, stock peas, melons, pumpkins and peanuts, with all manner of gar den truck and Irish and sweet po- tatos.
 We still raise and make sor- ghum molasses, a better article than we used to get. and when served with hot pancakes we know of nothing of its kind to equal it.
 And we still believe that it is better for a man to say "taters" and have plenty, than to say ''po- tatoes" and have none.
 Wishing The Star and all its readers pleasant Christmas and a happy New Year, I am
 Yours respectfully,
 Stephen Bates,