Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-12-28
MARKETING THE HOGS.
Some Wholesome Advice as to the
Proper Time to Sell
POrkerS.

POrkerS.
1t is much easier, speaking gen.
orally, to raise crops, whether of
grain or live stock, than it is to
hit the highest price on the market.
1t is unfortunate that this is so, be-
cause the farmer is working, not for
bushels or pounds or tons, but for
dollars; and to that end marketing
crops is often quite as important as
growing them.
One unfortunate thing is that our
markets for all our farm produce
are liable to violent speculation.
There are large interests quite out
side of the spectators that aim at
certain seasons of the year to de-
preciate the price of the farmers
produce. When the farmer was not
forehanded, he was at the mercy of
these spectators. He is less at
their mercy now, because he can, as
a rule, hold his grain until the mar
ket suits him, and this very fact
will tend to awaken the violence of
speculation. For example, again
and again the effort has been made
to corner some one grain, and yet
they have universally failed; for
this is a very big country, and the
sweepings of the granaries, when
very high speculative prices offered
were usually enough to break up
the corner.
The farmer can not do this with
his hogs or cattle to anything like
the same extent. Hogs and cattle
must go when they are ready. Hence
the best thing the farmer can do is
to sell when they are ready; and
they are ready when they have
reached a weight at which the farm
er can not add more weight at a
profit.
The packers deem it to their in
terest to bear" or put down the
price of hogs about the first of No
vember, or the beginning of what
used to be called the season of win
ter packing. Every year every eff
fort is made TO put down the price
10 the minimum point at this period.
Sometimes they succeed, and some
times they fail If by any means,
directly or indirectly, through the
advice of so-called experts in the
market papers published at the
packing centers, they can induce
farmers to ship in during October
everything that will do to ship in
at all, in order to get it marketed
before the prices fall, they will have
effectively accomplished their pur-
pose. For this would make a glut
in the market of which they would
take immediate advantage and thus
fill up their cooling rooms, and
hold for a period of scarcity.
The farmer can not have the in
formation, which is already in the
packers hands, as to the numbers
OF live stock that may be expected
to come forward. There is more
difficulty in ascertaining the num-
bers of hogs that will come forward
than any other line of live stock.
In fact, 1t is almost hopeless task
to make a census of the live stock
of any one state or of all the states.
About the only advice we are abb
lie to give farmers on this point is
to avoid being market-chasers; and
tc sell their stuff when it is ready
to go, when, as above stated, they
have reached a point where it no
longer pays to feed except for spe-
purposes.
Every farmer knows that with
corn at say fifty cents, the increase
in the weight of young stock will
be made cheaper than on old stock;
and that the cost of production IN
creases with age, where hogs are
used for the purpose of marketing
the corn crop.
We have always believed that
about 173 or $50 pounds was the
most profitable weight at which a
pig used as package in which to
condense corn could be put on the
market. This, however, does not
hold true with hogs that are used
as scavengers, for example, for US
ing creamery waste or grass or fol-
lowing cattle. In one sense their
feed costs nothing and hence they
may be run with profit to 200, $50
800 and sometimes $50 pounds.
thus furnishing the fat-back and
heavy packing classes of hogs.
This is very big country, and
the hog growing section of il is
bigger than most of us, or perhaps
any of us, can realize. The circum-
stances of farmers are varied, and
there will be a very wide difference
of opinion. If al farmers, for ex-
ample, fed their hogs mainly on
Germ in its marketable stage, and
should think it TO their interest at
any time to dump their hogs on
the market, prices would unques-
tionably fall If all farmers were
feeders of cattle, and should con-
clude to market their cattle and
hogs at one and the same time,