The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1884-02-01
Storing Wheat.

1t is but natural that the producers OF
grain should seek to obtain the highest
prices for their products, but il has been
demonstrated time anu again that sell
dom does one rrai2. his rXpcctat ions
in stnrin., wheat - whit iur strong
the market The mere TACT that wheat
may he worth say one dollar per bushel
in December and perhaps II few cents
more than that two months later is moi
IN itself an Indication that the farmer
who sold on the December market lost
money. There are several facts To lie
taken into consideration The wheat
may be stored in an elevator, and q
warehouse check taken tor il. together
with an advancement OF certain
amount upon the wheat deposited; or
the check thus secured may be deposit
Ell at a bank as collateral security Tor "A
loan. In either event the Iues on Of
interest must be taken into CO .sidera
ton, paid either to the warehouse man
for the advancement, or to the bank
Add to tins the charge for storage rea
sossbly made by the warehouse men,
and it will easily he seen that even
though there may be II raise in the mark
ct, the expenses incident To holding the
wheat pile up rapidly, and in nine cases
out OF ten even exceed the advance in
price. But even though the wheat is
not stored in warehouse, but kept in
granarics on the farm, there must be Ia
ken into consideration the loss of inter.
est on its money value for the time it
lies there. This is of course not so con.
siderable us IN the former case, but the
latter plan is less frequently followed,
On account Of insufficient storage facili.
ties on the farm. Where wheat is thus
held for a raise, in many instances the
owner is unwilling to sell even when the
market reaches its highest point, think.
ing that it will yet increase. While this
waiting continues warehouse charges
and interest are rapidly piling up, and
eating up large portion of the original
value of the grain. We have canversed
lately with men who have watched the
course of the wheat market for years,
and they give it as their opinion that as
a rule, taking everything into consider
alton, no money is made by holding
wheat for months after it is ready for
the market. In some instances, where
it is held for long time, there is even
q heavy loss. AS cases in point are two
instances which occurred here a few
years since. One man stored with Car
gill Bros. 264 bushels of wheat, rcceiv-
ing as an advancement 1924. The mark
ct did not reach his expectation, and he
held his wheat for two or three years,
interest and warehouse charges continu-
ally accumulating. Finally when max.
ing settlement with the firm, he was
found to be IN their debt $425, and de-
Quoting the value Of the wheat at the
time of the settlement he owed them
over 5000. The other case WAS almost
parallel, the loss being about the same
These are of course extreme instances
but they serve well to show how rapid
ly values are eaten up by interest and
warehouse charger.
There is in this much for the consid.
Grafton Of the farmers. Many of them
know by their own experience that they
have frequently lost money by holding
their grain. We do not advise them tc
sell without studying the market, but
holding for so long time Is simply &
speculation, and a successful business
can never he conducted upon that basis