The Washington times., 1915-05-21

'"ol Tic 1efnanOS OIL tne WhI ioi
10th meats and cereals are certain to
nc reflected In a persistent, advance.
though probably not n rapid one. in
the prices of meats and livestock was
the declaration OF Carl Vrooman. AS
sistant Secretary Of Agriculture, today.
The time Is come for an upward
turn he said. I'm fact. the turn Is
ALREADY to be noted in the market quo
tations. The wonder to me has been
that 1t should have been delayed so
long. / have done considerable quiet
investigating In the effort to determine
what causes have been responsible for
the comparative depression in meat
prices. and have found no satisfactory
explanation. Nor do find anybody else
who can answer the question that live
stock producers have been asking.
Under pressure of persistent effort
to Increase the country's livestock sup
plies. there has been a notable increase
in the numbers of meat stock; but
this has not been great enough. one
would imagine. to offset the fact that
the war has created an extraordinary
condition Of demand. 1t is reasonably
certain that the era of low prices Is
the result Of temporary causes. and the
recent upward tendency in prices points
TO the strong probability that there will
be continuing advance from this time
forward
Great Increase.
This advance Is going TO mean a
great increase in the revenues Of the
agricultural population, for the last year
has been a very fortunate one for the
country in regard to hog cholera,
The persistent campaign against that
scourge is producing real results. Peo-
pie are caring for their hogs better than
formerly, and they know the use Of the
cholera serum that has proved such q
boon to swine growers.
THE supply Of hogs has. therefore.
been improving. as has that of other
kinds Of meat stock. With prices now
on the upgrade, there is every reason
for confidence that the next season will
see large profits accruing to the credit
of people who have stuck by their live
stock investments"
The mystery of livestock prices, SC
low as to be out OF all proportion &c
the prices of corn and other cereals, has
been demanding and getting attention ir
many quarters. especially of Govern
ment activity. At the outset of the wal
experts generally anticipated that meat
would advance sharply while the cereals
would go UP slowly. The exact opposite
happened corn and wheat sky-rock.ted
while livestock was distinctly depressed
Three Explanations.
Three particular conditions have been
commonly cited in efforts to explain
First was the foot-an and-mouth epidem-
ic. which caused large numbers of cat
tie to be marketed in some sections
out OF their proper season, and thus
beared the market
Closely related TO this. as some stu
dents of the situation have insisted
was the fact that these premature
marketings forced stock into the buy
ers' hands before Il was of normally
good finish and quality. with the resul,
that prices had to go down because the
commodity was not worth SO much as
1t would have been In normal conditions
Neither of those explanations hat
been fully borne out by the developed
facts concerning market conditions anc
quantities.
The extraordinary conditions II
world finance have been cited as res
sponsihle for another factor that il
| charged with responsibility for low
| prices Argentina was caught when tn,
war broke out with heavy debts in Eu
rope. and with big stock OF cattle oil
hand. The debts were pressed. and th
stock was sent in unusual quantities s
for a period. to help satisfy them.
Thus Argentina. like the United
| states, though for n very different rea
| son. was hurryinH good deal OF un
| finished stock away to market; and tn
| low quality. quite as much as the larg