Show liveston 0 C k a 10 r L during the past pant several a I 1 great deal of 0 corn ment has resulted from packers purchasing hogs iti from the alio country rather than direct through central markets tills this fact has been paraded as an a forerunner of ota I 1 tho the breaking town down of 0 tile principle of c centralized livestock inar marketing koting Ilo however wever to tile the close observer who has studied the movement of livestock of all charses tills this situation indicated anything alarming or prophetic of a change in tho the system of 0 livestock marketing through central li points which has hab proven itself tic BO sound bound from roin an economical standpoint unquestionably this sit antion has boon been brought about by tile smaller number of hogs available to meet requirements tile number of hogs in tho the country liaa hns decreased from 74 million in 1919 to gl 51 million in n it Is interesting to note that in the face of tills this sharp curtailment of hog production tile the per capita consumption of pork increased from 6 08 0 pounds in I 1 1919 to 77 pounds in and the consumption to nearly 9 billion it pounds in n as compared i with slightly over 7 billion pounds in 1919 this decreased production and increased consumption la is accounted for by the marketing of brooding breeding herds in many cases attracted by high price levels these figures indicate an extraordinary sit bit nation with decreasing supplies and increasing consumption and in tills this wo we find the answer to country buying experience in tho the past has proven that when hog supplies become buyers generally have gotten closer to the source of production th thus its making moro more sure a supply in ti these logo periods tho the tendency y has always been to go to the smaller marketing centers and concentration points the op opposite osato to 0 o this is true when sufficient hog supplies aro are av available and I 1 believe tills this Is 14 aptly summed up by one of the largo large national packers when sufficient lont hog supplies ore available it Is not necessary tor for tho the packer to carry the added expense of direct buying and lie he therefore increases hla his purchases aos at tho the central 1 markets Ilo however wever turing during tho short supplies there Is a direct effect on institutions at central markets shipping associations etc and we find thoi tho question is brought up as to whether there Is a movement adverse to buying through tho the central markets unquestionably tho the increase in direct purchases tins has nothing to to do with the support or nonsupport non support of central markets as the necessity and economical of central markets la is recognized khero receipts an and I 1 values can bo be recorded a diversity of clio supply made available to the purchaser at the least possible purchasing expense reverting to the benefit of tho the producer and added to this la Is the highly trained soiling selling service nindo made aval avallaro ava llao laMn to the producer briefly country hog buying is the direct result of under supplies and Is a 1 natural temporary condition duo due to this and as soon na an production reaches the point where the movement may return to its normal function the volume will again be handled through tho the central markets bets simply repeating chathas wh athas happened ed many times before when production became subnormal forcing tho the buyers na as near as possible to the points of production in securing their supplies with economies both tor for producer and buyer temporarily thrust aside to meet temporary conditions |