Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1885-04-10
CHEAP GRAIN.

CHEAP GRAIN.
An Example Which Is Commented to
Farmers Who Live Where Grain Does
Not Pay for transportation.
It. is unfortunate that so many
American farmers are not in a position
to dispose of the products of their
farms to the best advantage No
farmer can afford to raise corn and
sell it at from ten to twenty-five cents
bushel, and yet thousands are COM
PEELED to accept such prices in conse-
quence of the pressing demands upon
them for money at the time of gather
ing their crops. After harvest notes
begin to come due, interest and taxes
must be paid, and all those who have
nothing left over from last years sales
must dispose of some kind of crop to
meet the demands of their creditors
and The tax gatherer. This is nothing
] new to majority of farmers, and
while they have been compelled to
make great sacrifices year after year 10
/ meet the demands upon them, com
! aratively few are able to get rid of
this incubus. which casts a cloud over
their lives aud all their operations.
In the Western States, where the
farmer is compelled to haul his crops
some distance to find market, and
then take whatever local agent
may choose to offer, he is likely
! to fare worse than in regions
where there is some competition
among buyers. But the farmer
who is burdened with debts is a slave,
] and the sooner he breaks the bonds
and asserts his freedom the better, even
II he has to make some sacr. fees in do
i ing so. OF course we do not mean to
say that farmer should never run in
debt. but he should avoid placing him.
self in position where indebtedness
! viii force him to make continual or
annual sacrifices to meet interest or
prime pal IF man is SO situated that
i he must sell corn for ten or fifteen cents
a bn> bel to raise money to pay debts of
| any kind, he is certainly making great
sacrifices to meet his obligations, and
he had better lose all at once than con-
tnue to do this for any considerable
number of years in succession.
But it may be sad that no farmer
should ever sell corn at such prices, be-
8 cause it is worth far more to feed hogs,
| sheep and cattle. This may he true,
but the farmer must first obtain the
/ animals named before he can feed them
his surplus grain, ard it is just here
/ that the want of means annoys many
a farmer most severely. He may see
how he could make his corn worth fifty
III IL
beef or mutton, provided he was able
to hold it and purchase the animals re-
quired to. con ume it; but not being
able TO command the necessary capital,
he sells at loss, while other farmers
in better circumstances may make a
profit on their gra even at present
low prices
i We notice recent report of the do
ings of certain farmers in Butler Coun-
| tr. Kansas, where distance from ia l.
road communication prevented them
from marketing their corn at present
prices without loss. To AVOID this. a
large number combined and gathered
together s. x thousand head of cattle,
and to these the corn is being fed dur
ing the winter months. These cattle
viii consume 303,O00 bushels of corn,
and the cost of hauling this amount OF
grain will not only be saved, but, BY
changing it into beef, the raiser will
! probably obtain twice or three times
as much for it as it woild have brought
if sold last fall. Next spring. or as
soon as the cattle are ready for. sh p-
ment, they can be driven to the rail-
roads at avery trifing expense, and
will doubtless command good price.
for beef has not fallen in valtie nearly
SO much as grain during the past year.
In fact, meats of all kinds have held
the own remarkably well during tht
recent depression in prices of mos'
nds of farm products.
The example of the Butler Count,
farmers should b. initiated by tilose o.
ther counties in Kansas and else
where; not that ali should try cattle
because such a move might tend to ad
vance the price o. steers and othel
!, Iyoung stock, but the feeding of gra /
on the farm TO sheep. hogs. cattle
horses ard poultry is the true way Il
d spose of it when prices are so Low
that can not lie sold in its natura
. state at far profit. OF course W,
can not undertake TO adv.ss individual
4
mails they may need in attempting tt
, Ichangs their s; stem of farming. bu
! we W II say that one good way to begiI
ths change is to stop selling of th
calves. lambs, pigs and other young
: animals, and ;or no better reason thai
because some butcher or buver offer
: what you cons;dsr good or fai
: prca. Better keep the lambs an
! calves for year or two. for, as a rule
4 they will advance in value ore hun
: drad per cent per annum, while th
t |yalue of their food will not be twenty
| five per cent. This hankering after
{ little ready cash which is not actual
9 needed has been the run Of many a
!. industrious and otherwise competer
, farmerN 7. Sun.
Every Saturday evening. when
barber shop in Troy is crowded
!. Young mechanics getting the.r hair Gu
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