Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1894-03-08
REACH AN UNDERSTANDING.
Charles p. Colver Offers q Basis of Terms on
Which Farmer and Miller Can Agree.

cuSSiOn OF the wheat question anQ
on me to explain where the poor
comes from if the farmers do
not raise poor wheat.
Now, l consider the POLICY pursued
by the miller and the farmers as the
main cause of so much poor wheat
coming to the mill and consequently
poor flour being turned out. l think
there was absolutely no inducement
to take good wheat there. After the
large crop of 1891 was threshed there
was an abundance of first class wheat
and also of inferior. Let US see how
it worked. The miller bought a
limited amount tor a few weeks pay
ing the fair price of IL cents per pound.
Then he quit buying but talked of re-
Stunning again and paying the same
for good wheat. Consequently the
farmers that had wheat that suited
him held on to it and waited for him
to commence buying again. The
farmers with inferior wheat, knowing
they could not sell, commenced taking
it to the mill as grist work. the miller
getting a share of the flour. In this
the man with the poorest wheat was
bound to be the gamer. In exchange
he had the advantage of getting better
than he gave and could sell the flour
which he got SO long as it kept its
reputation and thus get some cash
for his wheat. The many farmers
who had good wheat found the chances
we're against them in exchange and
the market they waited for never
came. The mill was kept supplid,
mainly, l believe, with the inferior
wheat. The demand for the flour fell
off. The good wheat kept at home
was gradually fed up, sold to be used
as chicken feed, seed, etc.
Some people may infer that the
good wheat was held too high for the
miller to buy, but at the very first Ii
and 1 cent per pound, or go cents per
bushel, was, l believe, as much as any
farmer expected. The flour was sold
for So and $3.50 per cwt. doubt if
there was that much difference at any
mill in the United States. 1 do not
believe that Mr.. Stiles will deny but
that ever since the mill started until
this fall he could have gotten all the
first class wheat he wanted at the
above prices.
l agree with Mr.. Fergus that wheat
can be raised here at one cent per
pound and a fair profit made by the
man who does his own labor. But
there is q vast difference in being able
to turn off a whole crop at a cent a
pound the year it is raised, or in TAX
ing three or four years to sell a few
hundred bushels at one cent per pound
But Mr.. Fergus would make out too
good a thing OF it at cent and pay
for the land with one crop as he says.
Let us take his figures. He takes 35
bushels, or $21 worth of wheat to the
acre, as an average crop, costing $12
per acre to raise. By referring to the
report of the US. department OF agri-
culture l find the average yield OF
wheat in Montana for the years OF
1SS7-'S9-'9O, the years for which
can find reports, to be Is, 16k and
17b bushels respectively. Figure on
this yield and see where the big profits
come in. There is no disputing this
authority for it is the highest there is
on the subject and the only true basis
on which to figure for it takes in the
sections of the state where crops tail
along with those where crops are good
and every section has a failure at
times. Still, l venture to say, give
the farmers OF this section a market
for all the good wheat they can raise
at one cent per pound and hard times
will soon be over in Fergus county.
Messrs. Stiles & Waldorf in their
article make light of the screenings.
They call them of no value but admit
selling them by the quantity for 65
cents a bushel; a pretty good price
should think. They claim to have
raised the price OF wheat from 81 to
$1.25 per cwt. l wonder how many
farmers ever knew of the raise before.
They say farmers received S1.5O per
cwt. in exchangefor flour at SO. That
was for second grade flour; for first
grade it was three pounds in exchange
for one pound.
But if any benefit is to be derived
from this discussion it is time to ar
| rive at some understanding as to the
future. / believe the miller admits
having made a reasonable profit so
far. Many farmers have not and
have stopped raising wheat. So
there can be no profit to either un-
til they are offered some inducement
to raise it again. The gentlemen who
run the mill must have gained in know
ledge much of value in the making OF
flour from the different kinds OF wheat
raised in this section, and be better
qualified to do good work than they
were at first. Let them say through
your paper about what the farmers
can expect in the way of a market
and what kinds of wheat they have
found the most desirable, whether
hard, soft or winter wheat, and if they
intend to make a difference in the
price of these varieties, as there is a
big difference in the yield. 1t will be
mutual advantage to know something
on the subject.
1t seems poor economy to invest
money in another mill when the one
we have can easily supply the local