Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-03-12
CHEAP GRAIN.


CHEAP GRAIN.
An Example Which is Commended Tn
Farmers Who Live Where Grain Does
NOT Fay for Transportation.
1t Is unfortunate that so MANY
American farmers are not in q nos;t;on
to dispose of the products of their
farms to the best advantage. No
farmer can afford to raise corn and
sell 1t at from ten to twenty-five cents
pushei, and yet thousands are COM
Peleo TO accept such prices in conse-
quence OF the pressing demands upon
.hem Tor money at the time of gather
ing their crops. After harvest notes
oegln 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 to
meet the demands upon them, COM
paratively few are able to get rid of
/. this incubus, which casts a cloud over
| their lives and ali their operations.
In the Western States, where the
farmer is compelled to haul his crops
some distance to find a market, and
then take whatever a 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 slave,
and the sooner he breaks the bonds
and asserts his freedom the better even
| ii he has to make some sacrifices in do
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
will force him to make continual or
| annual sacrifices to meet interest or
principal. If man is so situated that
| he must sell corn for ten or fifteen cents
a bu>hel 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-
| t:nue to do this for any considerable
number of years in succession.
But it may be said that no farmer
should ever sell corn at such prices, be-
cause it is worth far more to feed hogs,
| sheep and cattle. This may be true,
| but the farmer must first obtain the
animals named before he can feed them
his surplus grain, and it is Just here
that the want of means annoys many
farmer most severely. He may see
| how he could make his corn worth fifty
cents bushel by turning it into pork,
beef or mutton. provided he was able
to hold it and purchase the animals re-
quired to consume it; but not being
able to command the necessary capital,
| he sells at loss, while other farmers
in better circumstances may make
profit on their gran even at present
| low prices.
We notice a recent report of the do
| ingS of certain farmers in Butler COun-
| ty, Kansas, where distance from rail-
road communication prevented them
from marketing their corn at present
| prices without loss. To avoid this,
large number combined and gathered
| together six thousand head of cattle,
and to these the corn is being fed dur
| ing the winter months. These cattle
will consume 800, 900 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 would have brought
| if sold last fall Next spring, or as
soon as the cattle are ready for ship
ment, they can be driven to the rail-
roads at very trifiing expense, and
| will doubtless command a good price,
| for beef has not fallen in value nearly
| SO much as grain during the past year.
| In fact, meats of all kinds have held
their own remarkably well during the
recent depression in prices of most
| kinds of farm products.
The example of the Butler County
farmers should be initiated by those of
| other counties in Kansas and else
where; not that all should try cattle,
because such move might tend to adj
vance the price of steers and other
young stock, but the feeding of grain
on the farm to sheep. hogs, cattle.
horses and poultry is the true way to
dispose of it when prices are so low
that it can not be sold in it's natural
state at fair profit. OF course we
can not undertake to advise individuals
as to the best wav to obtain the ami
mails they may need in attempting to
change their system of farming, but
we will say that one good way to begin
the change is to stop selling off the
calves. lambs, pigs and other young
animals. and for no better reason than
because some butcher or buver offers
what you consider q good or fair
price. Better keep the lambs and
calves for year or two, for, as rule,
they will advance in value one hum
dred per cent. per annum, while the
value of their food will not be twenty
five per cent. This hankering after a
little ready cash which is not actually
needed has been the ruin of many an
Industrious and otherwise competent
farmer.-N Y San.
In recent issue of your paper.