The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-12-18
MORTON'S MUDDLE.
]. Sterling Morton's Figures Rather
Astonishing.
PRICE OBTAINED LESS THAN
COST OF PRODUCTION.
Chairman Taubeneck Of the Peoples Party
Quotes Some Astonishing Figures From
the Report of the Secretary Of
Agriculture.
milwaukee Advance.)


The analytical mind Of chairman H.
E. Taubeneck some time ago dissect-
ed the report of j. Sterling Morton,
the banking tool, whose principal oc-
cupatiOn seems to be to teach the
monopolists how to farm the farmers,
or rather to teach the farmer how to
permit the monopolist to farm them.
He quotes the following interesting
figures:
U. S. AGRICULTURAL REPORT.
1.-The report of the secretary Of
agriculture for 1898, pages 515 to SIS
inclusive, gives the estimated cost of
the principal items and the total cost
in the production of wheat and corn
per acre for 1893, as consolidated from
the returns Of nearly $4,000 leading
farmers scattered throughout the
United States.
WHEAT.-The items and total cost
of raising an acre of wheat was as fol-
lows: Rent of land 1915, manure
$2.34, preparing ground $1.s5. seed
$0S7, sowing $O.35, harvesting $1.17,
thrashing $1.13. housing $03 SO, market
ing $U.69, total $l1.4S.
The same report on page 481 con-
tains table giving the value of the
wheat crops for IA years, form 1880 to
1893 inclusive. The value of an acre
of wheat in 1893 was So. Is and the cost
of raising it, as stated above $1I.4S,
which leaves a net loss to the wheat
growers Of the United States of S..
for every acre produced in that year.
The report also says that the aver
age annual value OF an acre of wheat
for the IA years, (from 1880 to 1889,
was only $9.73. Ii the cost Of raising
was no greater for the 13 years pre-
ceedlng 1893 than for that year Gl.48)
then we are confronted with the stub
born fact that the wheat growers of
the United States have lost $I.75 for
every acre produced since 1869
CORN.-The items and total cost of
rails ing 'an acre of corn for 1893 was
as follows: Rent of land S. 90, manure
81. 10, preparing ground $l.6O, seed
$0.l4, planting $0.3S, cultivating $1.72,
gathering $1.37 housing $0.42,, mar
keting $l.08, total $ll.71.
The same report on page AIS con-
tains table giving the value or the
lIOlu lOOO W IOSo IuCluSlFc.
The value Of an acre of corn for 1893
was 1921 and the cost of raising it, as
stated above, Sill, which leaves a
net loss to the corn growers Of the
United States Of $3.50 for every acre
produced in that year.
The report further says that the
average annual value OF an acre OF
corn for the IA years (from 1880 to
1893 was only $9.6l. II the cost of
raising an acre was no greater for the
13 years preceding 1898. than for that
year ($l1.7D then the corn growers OF
the United States received $2.l less
per share since 1879 than it cost to
produce the acre Of corn.
1t ought to be, to say the least,
humiliating to our secretary of agri-
culture, j. Sterling Morton. who has
never let an opportunity go by, to ad-
wise the farmer to let politics and
economics alone and strictly attend
to his business Of ultivating the soil,
when he was compelled to make re-
port, which says that in 1893, the first
year he had charge Of the depart
ment, the farmers of the United
States received $5.32 less per acre for
wheat and $3.50 less per acre for corn
than it cost to produce Them