Shrinkage.
—The argument that there is less shrinkage in motor-hauled hogs than in rail-hauled may be as a general rule true, but, according to the Firestone Bulletin, will not net the farmer much, because buyers base the price they are willing to pay on the dressed weight and not the live weight. It is stated that the buyer from long experience is able to estimate with considerable accuracy the weight at which a hog will dress, and that he makes his price offer accordingly. The percentage loss of weight in dressing is, of course, greater for thin than for fat hogs. By grading the hogs into classes the buyer is enabled to discount the price paid enough to take care of the “fill,” which is said to range from 3 to 5 pounds per hundred weight. But notwithstanding this the fact that the animals are fresher and livelier must have some effect on the mind of the buyer. This may be the reason for the rapid increase of hogs received by truck at the packing houses, being as many as 6800 in a single day at Indianapolis.