In areordadcc with the pulley of (lie Food Administration since Its founda
tion to consult representative men I the agricultural Industry on occasions
of lniortnnee to seclal branche of the Industry, on October 24 there w
convened In Washington a meeting of the Live Stock Subcommittee of the
Agricultural Advisory Board and the ineclal memhera representing the swine
Industry to consider the situation In (he hog market.
The conference lasted for three days, and during this time met with the
executive committee of the fifty packing Arms participating In foreign order
for pork products and with the members of the Food Administration directing
foreign pork purchase!.
The conclusions of the conference were as follow:
The entire marketing situation has i producer and the Insurance of an arte-
o changed since tne repieniir juuu
conference as to necessitate an entire
alteration In the plans of price stabi
lization. The current peace talk has
alarmed the holder! of corn, and there
has been a price decline of from 'J3
cents to 40 cents per bushel. The fact
that the accumulations of low priced
corn In the Argentine and South Afri
ca would, upon the advent of peace
and liberated shipping, become availa
ble to the European market has cre
ated a great deal of apprehension on
the part of corn holders. This decline
has spread fear among swine growers
that a similar reduction In the prices
of hogs would naturally follow. More
over, the lower range of corn prices
would, If Incorporated In a 13-to-l ra
tio, obviously result In a continuously
fHlling price for live bogs. In view
of these changed conditions many
awlne producers anticipated lower
prices and as a result rushed their
hogs to market In lnrge numbers, and
this over-shipment has added to and
aggravated the decline.
The Information of the Department
'of Agriculture Indicates that the sup
ply of hogs has Increased about 8 per
cent, while the highest unofficial esti
mate does not exceed 15 per cent. In
creased production over last year. On
the other hand, the arrival of hogs
during the last three weeks In the
seven great markets has been 27 per
cent more than last year, during the
corresponding period, demonstrating'
the unusually heavy marketing of the
available supply. In the face of the
excessive receipts some packers have
not maintained the price agreed last
month. On the other band, many
of the packers have puld over the
price offered to them In an endeavor
to maintain the agreed price. The re
ault In any event has been a failure
to maintain the October price basis
determined upon at the September con
ference and undertaken by the pack
ers. Another factor contributing to
the break In prices during the month
ban been the Influenza epidemic; It
has sharply curtailed consumption of
pork products and temporarily de
creased the labor staff of the packers
about 25 per cent
The exports of 130.000,000 pounds
cf pork products for October com
pared with about 52,000,000 pounds
In October a year ago, and the
export orders placeable by the Food
Administration for November, amount
to 170,000.000 pounds as contrast
ed with the lesser exports of
98.000.000 for November, 1917. The
Increased demands of the allies are
continuing, and are In themselves
proof of the necessity for the large
production for which the Food Admin
istration asked. The increase In ex
port demands appears to be amply
sufficient to tike up the Increase In
hug product! ni, but unfavorable mar
ket conditions existing In October af
ford no fair Index of the aggregate
supply and demand.
It must be evident that the enor
mous shortage in fats in the Central
Empires and neutral countries would
Immediately upon peace result in ad
ditional demands for pork products
which, oil top of the heavy shipments
to the Allies, would tend materially
to Increase the American exports. In
asmuch as no considerable reservoir of
supplies exists outside of the United
States. It seems probable that the
present prospective supplies would he
Inadequate to meet this world demand
with the return to peace. So far as It
Is possible to interpret this fact, It ap
pears that there should be even a
stronger demand for pork products
after the war, and therefore any alarm
of hog producers as to the effect of
peace is unwarranted by the outlook.
In the light of these circumstances
It is the conclusion of the conference
that attempts to hold the price of hogs
to the price of corn may work out to
the disadvantage of pork producers.
It Is the conclusion that any interpre
tation of the fornnt'a should be a
, broad gauged policy applied over a
long period. It Is the opinion of the
conference that In substitution of the
previous plans of stabilization tin.
Live Stock Subcommittee of the Agri
cultural Advisory Board, together with
the specially Invited swine represi nta
tlves, should accept the Invitation of
the Food Administration to Jolu with
the Administration and the packers In
determining the prices at which con
trolled export orders are to be placed.
This will he regularly dons. The in
fluence of these orders wil' be directed
to the maintenance of thf: common ob
ject namely, the stabilization of the
price of live hoi:s .so as ;o secure as far
as It Is possible fair returns to the
quale future supply.
These foreign orderi are placed
upon the basla of oust of hogs to the
packers.
As the result of long negotiations
between this body and the Packers
Committee, representing the 45 to 50
packers participating n foreign or
ders, together with the Allied buvera,1
all under the Chairmanship of' the
Food Administration, the following un-
dertaklng hag been given by the pack-1
era : i
In view of the undertakings on the
part of the Food Administration with
regard to the co-ordinated purchase
of pork products, covered In the at
tached, It Is agreed that the packers
participating In these orders will un-'
dertake not to pnrchase hogs for less
than the following agreed minimum
for the month of November, thai Is
dally minimum of $17.50 per hundred
pounds on average of packers' drove,
excluding throw-out. "Throw-outs"
to be defined as pigs under l.'iu
pounds, stags, boar, thin sow and
skips. Further that no hogs of any
kind shall be bought except throw
outs, at less than $10.50 per hundred
pounds. The average of packer'
droves to be construed as the average '
of the total sales In the market of all
hogs for a given day. All the above
to be based on Chicago. i
We agree that a committee shall be 1
appointed by the Food Administration ,
to check the dully operations In the '
various markets with a view to super-
vision and demonstration of the carry-!
Ing out of the above.
The ability of the packer to carry
out this arrangement will depend on
there being a normal marketing of
hogs based upon the proportionate In
crease over the receipts of last year.
The Increase In production appears to
be a maximum of about 15 per cent,
and we can handle such an Increase. I
If the producers of hogs should, as '
they have In the past few weeks, pre
maturely mnrket bogs In such Increns-;
Ing numbers over the above It Is en- j
tirely beyond the ability of the pack-,
ers to maintain these minimum, and
therefore we must have the co-opera-;
tlon of the producer himself to main
tain these results. It is a physical
Impossibility for the capacity of the '
packing house to handle a similar
over-flood of hogs and to find a market
for the output. The packers are nnx-
ious to co-operate with the producers
In maintaining a staMllrjttlon of price .
and to see that producers receive a
fair price for their products.
(Signed) THOS. E. WILSON,
Chairman Packers' Committee.
The plan embodied above was adopt
ed by the conference.
The Food Administrator has appoint
ed a committee, comprising Mr. Thom
as E. Wilsop, chairman of the Pack
ers' Committee; Mr. Everett Brown,
president of the Chicago Livestock Ex
change; Major Itoy of the Food Ad
ministration, Mr. Louis D. Hall of the
Bureau of Markets, to undertake the
supervision of the execution of the
plan In the various markets. Commis
sion men are asked to co-operate In !
carrying out the plan embodied In rhe j
puckers' agreement It must be evl-j
dent that offers by commission men lo j
sell hogs below the minimum estab-
lislied above Is not fair, either to the j
producer or the participating packers, j
Mr. Brown has undertaken on behalf i
of the commission men in the United !
States that they will loyally support
the plan.
It Is believed by the conference that
this new plan, based as It Is upon a
positive minimum basis, will bring bet
ter results to the producer than aver
age prices for the month. It does not
limit top prices and should narrow
the margins necessary to country buy
ers in more variable markets. It I
believed that the plan should work out j
close to $18 average.
Swine producer of the country will
contribute to their own Interest by
not flooding the market, for It must be
evident that If an excessive over per
centage of hogs I marketed In any
one month price stabilization and con
trol cannot succeed, and It Is certain
that producers themselves can contri
bute matei'all'- to the efforts of the
conferences If they will do their mark-
' etlng In as normal a way as possible.
The whole situation as existing at
present demands a frank and explicit
assurance from the conferees repre
sentednamely, that every possible
effort will be made to maintain a live
hog price commensurate with swine
production costs and reasonable sell
ing values In execution of the declar
ed policy of the Food Administration
to use every agency In Its control to
secure Justice to the farmer.
The stabilization methods adopted
for November represent the best ef
forts of the conference, concurred In
by the Food Administration and the
Livestock Subcflmmltte of the Agri
cultural Advisory Hoard, together
with special awlne members and the
representative! of the packers, to Im
prove the present unsatisfactory ltu
atlon, which ha unfortunately result
ed because of the Injection of uneon
trolluhle factor.
We ink the producer to co-oxrnte
with u In a most dltllcult task.
The member of the Conference
were:
Producers II C. Stuart. Elk C.nr-
; den, Va Chairman Agricultural Ad
visory Hoard; V. M. McFadden. Chi
cago, III.: A. Sykes, Ida drove, la.;
John M. Evvard, Ames, In.; J. II. Mer
cer, Uve Stock Commission for Kan
ani ; J. O. Brown, Monon, Ind. ; E. C.
Itrown, I'reildent Chicago Livestock
Exchange; N. II. Gentry, Sedalla, Mo.j
John (iratlan Broomtlcld, Colo.; Eu
gene Funk, Rloomlngton, HI.; Isaac
Lincoln, Aberdeen, S. I.; C. W. Hunt,
Logan, ta. ; C. E, Yancey, W. II. I)od
on. Food Administration Herbert Hoo
ver, F. S. Snyder, Major E. L. Itoy. O.
II. Powell.
IVpartment of Agriculture Loul
D. Hull, F. It. Marshall.
The packer present and other
sharing In foreign order were repre
sented by the elected packer' commit
tee. Those represented were:
Packers Armour A Co., Chicago,
III. ; Cudahy Packing Co., Chicago, ill.;
Morris A Co., Chicago, III.; Swift ft
Co.. Chicago, III. Wilson A Co. Chica
go, Ill.j John Agar Co., Chicago, III.;
Armstrong Packing Co., Villus, Tex. ;
Boyd Dunham ft Co., Chicago, III.;
Brennan Packing Co., Chicago, 111.
Cincinnati Abattoir Co., Cincinnati,
O. ; Cleveland Provision Co., Cleve
land, O.; Cudahy Pros. Co., Curtaliy,
Wis. ; J. Dold Packing Co., Iluffalo. N.
Y.; Pnulevy Packing Co., Pittsburg,
Pa.; J. E. Decker ft Sons, Mason City,
In.; Evansvllle Packing Co., Evans
vllle, Ind.; East Side Packing Co., East
St. Louis, 111.: Hammond Stnndlsb ft
Co., IVtrolt, Mich.; 0. A. Hormel ft
Co., Austin, Minn.; Home Packing ft
Ice Co., Terre Haute, Iud.; Independ
ent Packing Co., Chicago, III.; Indian
apolis Abattoir Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
International Provision Co., Brooklyn,
N. Y. ; Interstate Packing Co., Winona,
Minn. ; Iowa Packing Co., Dcs Moines,
la.; Power Begg Co., Jacksonville,
III.; Klngnn ft Co., Indianapolis, Ind.;
Krey Packing Co, St, Loul, Mo.; Luke
Erie Provision Co., Cleveland, O. ; Lay
ton Co, Milwaukee, Wis.; Oscar Mayer
ft Itro., Sedgwick and Beethoven
street. Chlcngo, 111.; J. T. McMillan
Co., St. Paul, Minn.; Miller ft Hurt,
Chicago, III.; J. Morrell ft Co, Otttim
wa, la. ; Nuckoll Packing Co., Pueblo,
Colo.; Ogden Parking and Provision
Co, Ogden, Utah; Ohio Provision Co,
Cleveland, O. ; Parker Webb ft Co, De
troit, Mich.; Pittsburg Packing and
Provision Co., Pittsburg, Pa.; Hath
Packing Co, Waterloo, la.; Roberta ft
Ouke, Chicago, 111. ; Itohe ft Bros, New
York City ; W. C. ltouth ft Co., Logan,
port, Ind. ; St Loul Ind. Packing Co,
St Louis, Mo.; Sinclair ft Co, T. M.
Cedur Rapids, In.; fulllvan ft Co, De
troit. Mich.; Theurer-Norton Provision
38
S3
MONMOUTH HARDWARE CO.
Co.. Cleveland, tl.i Ttlison Provision
Co, Peoria, III.; Western Packing mid
Provision Co, Chicago, III. ; Charles
Wolff Packing Co, Topek, Kuu,
Much Red Cross
Work Yet To Do
Hecause peace is here, so many of
our Red Cross workers are of the
opinion that the work of this great
organization is finished. This is an
absolutely wrong; impression.
Millions of American boys are
still under arms. Thousands of
them are sick or wounded. Owing
to the shortage in shipping, it may
tnke a year or more to bring- our
boys home from France. Hut,
whatever the time, our protecting
arms must be about them and their
families over the whole period
which must elapse before the nor
mal life of peace can be resumed.
Our soldiers and sailors are enlisted
until the Commanderin-Chief tells
jlhem there is no more work for
them to do in the war. Let every
Red Cross member, amj worker,
show our returning soldiers and
sailors that to care for their health,
welfare and happiness, we are en
listed for no less a period than they
are.
The cessation of the war will re
veal a picture of misery such as the
world has never seen before, espe
cially in the many countries which
cannot help themselves. The Amer
ican people will expect the Red
Cross to continue to act as their
agent in repairing broken spirits
and broken bodies. Peace terms
and-peace conditions will determine
how we may best minister to the
vast stricken areas which have been
harrowed by war, and in this great
act of mercy the heart and spirit
of the American people must con
tinue to be mobilized through the
American Red Cross.
On behalf of the War Council, we
accordingly ask each member of our
splendid body of workers, through
out the land, to bear in mind the
solemn obligation which rests upon
each one to "carry on". We can
not abate one instant in our efforts,
or in our spirit, there will be an
adundance of work to do, and speci
fic advices will be given, but even
Heating Stoves
and RANGES
at the moment of peace let no Red
Cross worker falter.
Our spirits must now rail us to
show that it is not the rour of can
non, or the blood of our own, alone
that directs our activities, but that
a great people will continue to re
scind, greatly and freely, to its
obligation and opportunity to serve
mankind.
Still Going
For the Gopher
"Polk County cun be eleured of
gophers within six month if all the
farmers will work together, aban
don the slow trapping method of
the past, and adopt the poisoning
method now used in practically all
the eastern states", concluded Mr.
Theodore Scheffer of the U. S. Hit),
logical Survey in an address before
a meeting of farmers interested In
rodent control. Poisoning is cheap,
effective and easily administered.
In other counties where it has been
tried, the cost has been as low as
ten cents er acre. A nmn can kill
as many as 250 gophers a day.
One of the essential factors in
the new method is the position used.
The old gas method, (carlton bisul
phid) has been abandoned because
of its expensiveness and general
inefficiency and in its place strych
nine alkaloid has been substituted.
It is the most effective poison
known. Mix one ounce with from
one tenth to one eighth ounce of
sacehurin to sweeten the bait and
disguise the bitter tuste of the
strychnine. Sprinkle the mixture
over the preiared bait and stir well
in a basin or pail to make sure that
the total surface is covered. Co
phers prefer in order, dandelion
roots, sweet potatoes, carrots, par
snips and Irish potatoes. Care
should be taken to cut the bait
sufficiently large so that the gopher
will be obliged to cut it in pieces,
w get it in his pocket. This is the
critical part in the whole poisoning
process. These animals store sev
eral times more food than tjiey con
sume, hence if the bait is small
enough so they can carry it away
without tasting it, the gopher will
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earn