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Show ! labor which n the bulk of our buying1 buy-ing1 power. It observed that workers' wages for this year should at least be at par with 1927 on a per capita basis and when coupled with the possibility of less unem- ; piovment, it can readily be seen I i that these improvements in indus-i indus-i try come riyht back to agricultural.' I it is figured that the buying power : of agriculture was increased at least 1-12 as a result of better conditions i in 1927 and a large percentage of i this increased buying power will be felt in 1928 when the increased re-i re-i turns will be spent. This one-1 one-1 twelfth increase affects practically thirty million people either directly or indirectly connected with agriculture agri-culture in the United States and, of course, reflects itself in benefiting J industries producing commodities ! purchased by those who have received receiv-ed this increase. Until the past few years, most practical people in different industrial indus-trial and agricultural lines have looked askance upon what might have been termed prophecies or guesses as to what would be forthcoming forth-coming in the future. This has been a reasonable attitude atti-tude as there was a lack of basic information upon which to found forecasts on production, buying power, pow-er, distribution or the other elements involved in the movement of raw material from its source to the final consumer. However, this situation has rapidly changed and data is now available on past and present conditions which, in a general- way, after eliminating local irregularities, makes it possible to arrive at a reasonably rea-sonably close estimate of what is j in store for agriculture, livestock, or j industry, at least for several months in advance. j Forecasts on the industrial future j are of necessity limited to a" shorter period than on livestock on account of the quicker turnover, making it possible for the picture to change more rapidly. However, in livestock, live-stock, with production cycles requir-ing requir-ing several years, particularly in cattle, to complete their revolutions, it is not difficult, through measuring measur-ing buying power and production to get a fair idea of what is in the offing for a year or more ahead. Practically all observers of the livestock situation are sanguine of a sustained buying power during the coming year attributed to the strong position of the industrial situation which points to continued satisfactory satisfac-tory returns to wage earners and diminishing unemployment, which represents a well suupported outlet for meat foods. After all, satisfactory returns in the marketing of meat food animals depend largely upon the condition of |