THE LIVESTOCK SITUATION The Chicago Livestock Exchange will soon undertake a plan for the marketing of live hogs on a future basis, the same as is done today in many of the products of the soil, Dairy, Poultry and Livestock. This however, seems to mark the first activity ac-tivity of selling live animals on what might be termed a Board of Trade operation for future delivery. It is stated that the proper use of future trading will help to eliminate the risk of Hog ownership, enabling the producer pro-ducer to plan for future production, taking advantage of price changes not now available. This plan will not interfere in-terfere with the everyday marketing, except that it will have a tendency to stabilise the supply, and add a foundation to the business so that the grower may be assured of a certain price on a certain day. When we come to review the situation, situa-tion, we find that our Hog production continues year in and year out and has done so for many generations and the certainty of production is just as well assured as in the case of many other commodities. Pork products have been traded in on the Board for many years; in fact, Pork is one of the very first of our essentials to be so handled. When we get this fixed in our minds, it isn't so difficult to see the possibilities possibili-ties of a live porker. It is true too that we produce about so many hogs each month throughout the year. The grading of hogs is comparatively compara-tively simple, based upon weight and it is proposed to establish inspectors who will fix the grades on the central market at the time of delivery, just as grain iB handled. Many of our grain and feed producers pro-ducers today hedge their operations by selling a part of their production through the Exchange, at a definite price for timely and satisfactory delivery; de-livery; selling the balance of thei production on the open market, with the result that whatever proportion is sold through the Exchange, provides pro-vides the foundation, then if the market mar-ket goes up the balance of the pro-dust pro-dust gets the benefit; on the other hand if it goes down, that which has been sold for the future is protected and the difference applies only to the unsold portion. This experimental arrangement will be watched with a great deal of interest in-terest and if it adds something of i value to the industry i; will rapidly rpread to other centers .and :? by any I chance the reflection of future values ! thru this method can be worked out in j a practical way, it will have a direct j influence on production. More will be said on this subject after the situation unfolds itself.