The Mena weekly star., 1909-12-30
Supply and Demand.
To the El@or I The Star.

repeal,d uy any legislature, aud that is the law al supply and de mand. True, this law may be vio- lated, ,.of rather imposed upon now and the b. uns,rupulous specu lat. rs, who get a corner on som, ot the commodities and force the consumer 10 pay more than he should for the necessaries ot life. but in a general way the rule holds good. To illustrate thus point, we have only to point to the prices that are prevailing at the present time. So far as we know, these IS no corner on any commodity now, but, according to Bradstreet and other conner cisl agencies, prices are not only higher than they have been for many years, but are still soaring. Prime hogs on foot reached an- other big mark last week when they sold for S8.80 per hun dred in Kansas City and Denver. Thls is the highest price paid for hogs in nearly 30 years; and If the packers are paying that much now, what will the consumers have to pay for their meat in 1910?
 Right here is where the law of supply and demand applies, and right here we land back on the great paramount issue in Polk county, which interpreted means literally a hog law and bet ter hogs with plenty of good meat for home consumption and some to sell. or free range with scrub hogs and packing house pork. Some of your correspon- dents, MT. Editor, vince at the term 'rezJroack, so will drop it and hereafter substitute the word ''scrub."
 A rose hv any other name
 Smells just as sweet,
 Anu a .zorback vy any other name
 Makes the same kiLd of meat.
 |. IS not bit or use to vail about the beech nuts going to waste back in Kentucky, or to tell us what people have to pay for beef and pork out m Oklahoma ; this one unfortunate fact stares us iu the face: There are too mauy cousum.Is and not enough of producers rig! here in Polk county, Arkansas, where we boast of soil that provides great variet, if properly handled, and greae abundance of food and fee products, and climate tha, IS unsurpassed anywhere in the Un.ted States. Reliable farmers tell me that before the railroad was built through the county. a consid erable acreage of wheat was grown and here and there could be found an old fashioned water mill where both wheat and corn could be ground, but there IS not a four nili of any kind now in toe county. Why? No wheat to grin |. The same soil is here anu inc same climate, but nc wheat.
 It is all true that 25 or 30 years ago the farmers of this part oi the state did not have 70 grow much corn. There was,I lenty ot timber here then and plenty oi mast and 1 am of the opinlor that outside of the tropical re gious of the earth, where the na tiyes live on cocoanuts ant bananas and wear only a dab O paint and a coat of sunshine; nt place on earth could the lazy aut shiftless man live easier and bet ter than right here in Polk coun ty, but conditions have changed The mast is thing of the past and instead of raising their owl meat and bread, many of our tar mers depend upon the corner gro ceries for their supplies. l hay even been told that there wer many spinning wheels and loom busy in Polk county some year ago, but where are they now! N more home-spuu jeans, no waru flannel shirts or socks and mitten like mother used to knit. Yes conditions have changed, bu some of our people are trying [ make the present connect wit the past. They must look to tn future or fall out of the proces sion. The time is rapidly ar preaching when farming wi have to be done on sc,entifi basis and the meat products fo the A merican people will have t come from the best bred hogs au hip hest breeds of cattle that can b procured. The time is rapidl approaching when agricnltur and stock raising will require tn same systematic business maj agement that is necessary the store, factory or office, and 1 order to supply the insistent d' mauds of our rapidly increasin population, our slogans will has to be s'back to the farm;' not tt
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