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Show iDvestoclel During the past several months a great deal of comment has resulted from packers purchaMng hogs direct from the country rather than through central markets. This fact has been paraded as a forerunner of the breaking break-ing down of the principle of centralized centraliz-ed livestock marketing. However, to the close observer.who lias studied the movement of livestock live-stock of all classes this situation hasn't indicated anything alarming or prohpetir of a change in the system of livestock marketing thru central points which has proven itself so sound from an economical stand-' stand-' point. Unquestionably this situation has been brought about by the smaller small-er number of hogs available to meet requirements. The number of hogs in the country has decreased from 74 1-2 million in , 1919 to 51 million in 1926. It is interesting in-teresting to note that in the fact of this sharp curtailment of hog production produc-tion the per capita consumption of pork increased from 608 pounds in 1919 to 77 pounds in 1926 and the consumption totaled nearly 9 billion pounds in 1926 as compared with slightly over 7 billion pounds in 1919. i This decreased of breeding herds, in j many cases, attracted by high price levels. These figures indicate an extraordinary ex-traordinary situation, with decreas- ing supplies and increasing consump- tion and in this we find the answer , to country buying. Experience in the past has proven that when hog supplies become scorce bbuyers generally have gotten closer to the source of production, thus making mak-ing more sure a supply. In these periods the tendency has always been to go to the smaller marketing centers cen-ters and concentration points. The opposite to this is true when sufficient suffici-ent hog supplies are available and I ; believe this is aptly sumned up by one. of the large national packers! "When sufficient hog supplies are I available it is not necessary for the packer to carry the added expense of direct buying and he, therefore, increases in-creases his purchases at the central markets. However, during the short j supplier there is a direct effect on j institutions at central markets, ship-i ship-i ping associations, etc., and we find ! the question is brought up as to I whether there is a movement adverse j to buuying through the central mar-I mar-I kets. ' 'Unquestionably the increase in di- rect purchases has nothing to do with ; the support or non-support of central j markets as the necessity and economi-; economi-; cal value of central markets is recognized, where receipts and values ca nbe recorded, a diversity of the I supply made available to the pur-j pur-j chaser at the least possible purchasing purchas-ing expense (reverting to the benefit of the producer) and added to this is the highly trained selling service j made available to the producer." Briefly, country hog buying is the direct result of under supplies and is a natural temporary condition due to this, and as soon as production reaches the point where the movement move-ment may return to it's normal function, func-tion, the vfllume will again be handled through the central markets simply repeating what has happened many times before when production became be-came sub-normal, forcing the buyers as near as possible to the points of production in securing their supplies with ecenomics both for producer and buyer temporarily thrust aside to meet temporary conditions. |