Graham guardian., 1895-04-06
'itizens Cooperate for Self Protec-
ton.
Sanford, Graham Co.,
Anvil IN 1QQ6

again to occupy a small amount of
space in your valuable paper to
speak upon a subject ofimportance
to the people of this valley. A
few weeks ago some of the enter
prising citizens of this vicinity con-
ceivod the idea of forming a coop
erative company for the purpose of
erecting foul mill, to be owned
and operated by the people, for the
purpose of grinding the peoples
grain. When this idea was first
made public it met with some OPP
position. The question was asked,
what necessity have we for more
mills, have we not mills enough
to grind all the grain crop of the
valley before another harvest will
come around? l would say, yes,
we have, and that would be suffi-
cient, if other conditions desired,
were equal to that. But, while
those other conditions are yet alb
sent, there exists an actual necess-
ity for another flour mill. Now
let us look into this subject, and
see if this necessity does exist. l
can call to mind mill owners in the
Territory of Utah, who have run
their mills on custom grain; whose
regular toll was one tenth of all
grain that they ground, and out of
this tenth they paid their millers
fair, living wages and made lib
eral profit on their investment,
when grain was no higher than it
is in this valley at the present t
prices. What does the farmer
have to pay for grinding his grain
here in Arizona? In Graham
county the farmer takes load of
grain to the mill, it is put on the
scales weighed, them sampled or
docked, on an average of about 5
per cent. is deducted for waste,
then he pays 35 cents per hundred
pounds to have it ground. The
mill owner will then give him 60
pounds of good flour (where the
mill is able to make good four)
and 40 pounds of bran and shorts;
these amounts return the one hun
dred pounds back to the grain
owner, less the dockage. Take
notice now, the farmer has paid 35
cents for grinding that hundred
pounds of wheat, His grain has
been docked enough to make it
clean and pure and fit for the roll
ers. The grain is ground, Clio in
-four, 4-10 in bran and shorts are
given to the grain owner. Is this
all he should get? 1t may be in
weight but not in valve. Seventy
pounds of good -four for each hun
dred pounds of good wheat is a
fair average to count upon and this
should be of the best quality of
flour. If a lower grade of flour is
put in it should then be more than
70 pounds. But we only get 60
pounds, then the mill owner keeps
10 pounds of our best -four and
-(pays us in bran and shorts. What
is the difference between -four and
bran? Flour is worth from 1-2
to 8 cents and bran is worth 3-4 to
l cent per pound, thus making a
difference of little over / 3-4 cts.
on every pound, or on every ten
pounds Of flour difference of from
II to 20 cents in favor of the mill
owner, add this to the 35 cents
paid for grinding the hundred
pounds of wheat, and the little adj
vantage of the dockage that may
come to the mill owner, and you
will find the grain owner has paid
a little over so cents for grinding
his hundred pounds of wheat.
| These calculations may be dis
putcd by some parties as being in.
correct, but in this regard / wish
to say that i am not speaking from
heartay, for / have been connected
with the flour mill business for 25
years past, and know about what
proportion of flour can be made
from wheat, both in Arizona and
Utah, and / can base these calcula-
tions on the judgement of old mill
manufacturers of the east.
There is also another way for the
farmer to pay for the grinding OF
his grain by allowing the mill own
er to take 20 pounds of wheat out
of each 100 pounds, thereby 20
pounds is paying for the grinding
of 80 pounds, this is more expen-
sive than it would be to pay 35 cts
for the 20 pounds of wheat. The
present rate of grinding would
bring the grain owner IL pounds
of flour and pounds of bran and
shorts; this would count in value
from SO to "A cents, and outside
of this he would be losing at the
same ratio by not getting the full
amount Of flour from his 80pounds
of wheat. In either way the farm
er is paying an enormous price for
the grinding of his grain.
After understanding things in
this light, will any man who pro-
duces grain from the soil Of
the Gila Valley, say there is not q
necessity for another mill, to be