THE HISTORY OF STUDING THE 'PIG CYCLE'

The subject of the authoress' considerations is the 'pig cycle' phenomenon which had been firstly formulated by Samuel Benner in 1895. Since then the mechanism of pig cycle has been investigated and discussed by many foreign as well as Polish scientists. The key fields of American studies on pig cycle like: reason for cyclic development of pig production, spider net theorem, duration of a cycle and its particular phases, were presented in the article. The results of researches conducted during the last several years were also discussed. An important part of the article is devoted to Polish pig cycle in both pre- and post- Second World War periods. During the post-war period the researchers dealing with pig cycle problem had to be faced with difficult question whether cyclic fluctuations of hog production could take place in centrally planned economy. A very practical aspect of the study related to stabilization of pig market was pointed out in the article. Different approaches of agricultural policies in different countries and periods were also presented.