St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-05
ROUGH ON FARMERS.
Binding Irvine Is Likely to
Be a Very Scarce Article
This Year.
Reports Of a Weakening in
the Irvine Trust Prove
Erroneous.
The Farmer Who Wants
Irvine Will Have to Pay
Dearly for 1t.
What the National Copdage
Association Has Accom-
plished.

A telegram was yesterday published
in the GLOBE. dated from Mason City,
To-, which read:
Agents here have been instructed to sell
binding Irvine of various kinds at all average
of four cents below the prices of last year.
This is believed to indicate that the binding
Irvine trust which has imposed such burdens
on the farmers of this and other states has
been broken.
The confederation of the telegram is
of the highest Importance to the farm
ers Of Minnesota. For the purpose of
ascertaining its authenticity a repre-
sentative of the GLOBE yesterday visited
various St. Paul dealers in binding
Irvine, with the result that it can be
positively. stated that no reductions
whatever have been made by the So
called Irvine trust. On the contrary, with
the 1st of this month the price
of binding Irvine was advanced one
quarter of cent per pound. On the
face of such an increase the telegram
quoted is at once stamped as mlSlead-
ing. The agents OF cheap binding Irvine
may possibly be selling various kinds
at an average of four cents below the
prices of last year, but the agents for
the Irvine manufactured by the firms
connected with the National Cordage
association are not. Instead OF a de-
crease in binding Irvine this year,
farmers may look for an increase. As
sure as the sun will set in the
west this evening so sure will
year. There is nothing to prevent such
condition of things. The National
Cordage association has now got thor
ough control of the Irvine manufactur-
ing OF this country. In the strict sense
of the term, be it noted, there is no
twlne trust, as is commonly reported.
What the Irvine manufacturers have
done is what is done by the railroads,
the coal merchants and other business
interests in st. Paul-they have formed
an association for the fixing and main
tanning of prices of their product. The
association was formed last year. Ali
the firms of the country did not become
affiliated with the association at first,
and. as a consequence, the organization
was
NOT A ROWLING SUCCESS
last year. The firms connected with
the association, and who had placed
about $4,000, 900 in the manufacturing
of twlne, failed to clear any money.
The reason for this, and strictly speak
ing, the real reason for the prevailing
excessive price for Irvine, was the de-
mand among Irvine manufacturers in
purchasing the hemp. 1t was the Gus
tom of the manufacturers to ''bid' for
the purchase of this hemp, and accord
ing to the demand made by them the
price was increased. Manuf acturerS
individually. fearing thier competitors,
were buying up the supply. would
rush IN, buy largely, and up
would go the price. The National
Cordage association attempted to abol-
lsf this system OF purchase hemp. Man
| ufacturers had pointed out to them the
folly OF competing against each other i'll
this way, which raised the price Of the
manufactured Irvine to farmers here
while it gave the producers or the brok-
original article. But the reasoning did
not take; prices for hemp reached an
outrageou sfgure and the manufacturers
practically did not make cent out of
last years business. Experience, how
ever, has worked to the advan-
tage of the association. All the
Irvine factories are now connect
ed with it, and this year the
manufacturers, instead of bidding
against each other in purchasing their
supplies of hemp, have combined their
interests in such manner that there is
but one purchaser the National Cord
age association. The result has been
startling. The price of hemp has been
decreased by eight cents per pound;
latterly, however, owing to the inter-
vention of English buyers, the price has
been raised, but still the decrease upon
last year is equivalent to six cents per
pound. With so large reduction in
the purchase price of hemp it would
naturally be supposed that instead of
| increasing, the price of binding Irvine
would
DECREASE THIS YEAR.
But, as already stated. there is no
| likelihood of this. Binding Irvine will
be cheap next year, but certainly not
| this. The firms connected with the
| National COrdage association are re-
Stricting the output of twine. 1t is
questionable whether much of the hemp
now purchased will be used this season;
manufacturers are using up the supply
they secured last year, which, in some
| instances, was enormously large. This
| hemp being purchased at from six to
eight cents per pound deerer than that
now being bought. it is quite evident
| that no reduction in the price of twine
may be looked for yet. The manufact-
urerS have to make good their losses of
! the past twelve months. That they will
| do so is without doubt. A conservative
estimate places this years output of
| pure MANILA binding Irvine at 100000
| tons. The demand for twlne among
farmers will be great. Their supply
was all used up by the heavy crops of
| last year, and, with the general outlook
very prosperousfOra another crop, farmers
Will require and must have large
amount of Irvine. With the supply re-
| stricted the article is therefore likely to
| rise to premium before the season is
ended. Such being the facts of the
case, the telegram from Mason,
| City, To-, that there was a pos
| sibility of decreased prices this year
! is altogether wide Of the mark. r. A.
Kirk, of the firm of Farwell, Ozmun &
Kirk, kindly furnished representative
| of the GLOBE with this information,
and stated that he did not believe that
there were any possible ground for the
| truth of the reported decrease. There%as
a possibility of it referring to cheaper
Irvine, with which the National Cordage
association had nothing to do. A cheap
| Irvine was just now being introduced,
in which hemp imported from New
Zealand was used. The twine, how
ever, was not of a very good quality; it
did not by any means come up to the
standard of the pure MANILA Irvine.
Mr. Kirk stated that he was not in any
| way connected with the National Cord
| age association. but was firm in his belief
that the price now quoted-15 cents per
pound-for MANILA Irvine would be the
basis for the year.