This
was in November. I at once spent $640 for 2-1/2 miles of fencing to
enclose it in one field, charging the farm account with $12,640 for the
land and fence.
This transaction was a bargain, from my point of view; and it was a good
sale, from the standpoint of the other man, for he put $12,000 away at
five per cent interest, and felt that he need never do a stroke of work
again. A lazy man is easily satisfied.
In December I sold 283 hogs. It was a choice lot, as much alike as peas
in a pod, and gave an average weight of 276 pounds; but the market was
exceedingly low. I received the highest quotation for the month, $3.60
per hundred, and the lot netted $2702.
It seems hard luck to be obliged to sell fine swine at such a price, and
a good many farmers would hold their stock in the hope of a rise; but I
do not think this prudent. When a pig is 250 days old, if he has been
pushed, he has reached his greatest profit-growth; and he should be
sold, even though the market be low. If one could be certain that within
a reasonable time, say thirty days, there would be a marked advance, it
might do to hold; but no one can be sure of this, and it doesn't usually
pay to wait.
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