St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-31

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markets at Warren and Argyle had
been opened, the grain was not SO
great, but there was a handsome profit
on every carload shipped. Mr.. Mel
gard began the good work for the
| farmers by ordering cars for them
every Saturday night, after ali the or
| ders had been cancelled. There was so
much work attached to this that he
was unable to attend to it, and the re-
suit was that the business men met
and organized the Business Mems I'M
ion. They purchased all the necessary
tools for the use of the farmers and
assisted them in every way in secur
ing cars for direct shipment, and load
ing their wheat when the cars came.
They hired livery teams and sent out
messengers. to inform the farmers when
| the cars arrived, and aided them IN
making out their shipping papers when
/ the wheat had been loaded. AS there
were no Independent buyers at Argyle,
! the line houses absolutely controlled
the local market until the advent of
! track buyers for Duluth and Minneapo-
! lis commission houses. who paid from
! four to five cents more than the ele-
vators for the same wheat. Besides
| the holding down of grades, there was
the same spread" of prices and ex-
cessive dockage complained of at other
points. The spread was from one to
two cents between grades more than
! the difference at the terminal markets.
and the dockage averaged a pound to
the bushel above that fixed by state
inspection. These evils were lessened
| to a great extent by the action of the
business men in assisting the farmers
to ship their wheat direct to the termi-
nal markets without the intervention
of the elevator companies.
The loss of business to the town by
reason of the blockade and the at
fractions offered by other markets
were serious and irreparable Some
Of the wheat, which naturally would
have been marketed at Argyle, was
hauled to Drayton, n. D.. and the
farmers invariably received better
grades and prices than here. After
the market was opened at Warren
much Of the wheat that should come
here sought that market, as the farm
ers claim they can save a cent
bushel by disposng of it there. West
Of Argyle. in the Snake river country,
the farmers have found still another
market at Voss, fifteen miles west of
the Red river in North Dakota. The
average distance these farmers would
have to haul their wheat in order to
reach Argyle is twelve miles. To reach
Voss they have five miles to the Red
river and fifteen miles beyond. making
a total of twenty miles. The differ
ence is eight miles in favor Of Argyle,
but for weeks last fall all the wheat
from that territory was hauled across
the river. through Mimic, where the
Great Northern road is crossed, to Voss,
four miles further west. There the
prices were satisfactory, and the farm
erS could always dispose of their grain
without the delays occasioned by the
CONSTRUCTED condition of the Argyle
market. One of the principal troubles
at Argyle has been the absence Of an
independent house, which has left the
market practically without competi-
ton for the small producer. The large
grower can ship a part Of his wheat.
at least direct, or dispose of it through
track buyers which is the same the
only difference being that he must wait
for the returns when shipping direct.
while he makes the bargain on the
ground when selling to the track b11v-
er. The necessity for an independent
house has been apparent for several
years, but those who have contemplat-
ed putting one in have. so far, been
unable to secure a site. The side track
Is none too long when there is onlv
an ordinary crop, but when the crop
is heavy 1t is very deficient Mr.. Keye
maze application for a site last sum
mer, but he could not get one without
extending the track at his own ~
nense and the project was dropned for
the tlme, as every one was driven with
work We hope to have an independ
emf house next season. and are SAT
ished that 1T will materially aid us
IN securing honest prices for our
G. o. SUTHERLAND
is the owner of the lumber ward at
Argyle, and one of the leading members
VI the business mems union of which
ne IS the trea surer. He said tho union
had authorized A A. Buckingham To
act for them In assisting the farmers
10 secure cars and to load and shin
their wheat direct. He was also TO At
tend to making out their bills of ladins
ETC., and to see that no shipments were
made to other than resnonsih1a -,
ers.
Mr.. Sutherlands lumber ward was
used by many of the farmers as
storehouse for their grain while thew
were waiting for cars to arrive AS
many as twenty-five or thirty different
owners had wheat stored there aft va
I1ous times, and it was not unusual
for 5000 or 5000 bushels To he niIed
up around his sheds and between tho
piles Of lumber. It was the farmers
VINO lived at distance who were the
most anxious to store their wheat in
ms lumber yard, which is enclosed bv a
hlgh fence. They were not in town
frequently, and believed that their
grain would be safe when left in the
Enclosed yard. Those who were moro
familiar with the conditions in the
town were satisfied to leave their. grain
anywhere, and there has not been a
complaint Of the theft of single
bushel of wheat except by the eleva-
tors, at any place along the st. Vim
cent line.
WHAT FARMERS THINK.
F. D. Keye owns several farms from
two to five miles distant from Argyle
and he has made study of the condi
tons bearing upon the wheat market
He Is at a loss to understand why the
prices should be fixed by Chicago
when but small proportion of the
northern grown wheat reaches the
markets of that city. 1t is his opinion
that the hard wheat is forced into an
unnatural competition with the soft
southern grown wheat. Mr. Keye be-
lieves the hard wheat should be graded
independently and without regard to
the soft produce. On this subject of
grades he also had found a discrep-
ancy at home The wheat raised IN
"a nearly all graded No. hard. al
though 1t only averaged f1fty-eight
pounds to the bushel, while this year
wheat Weighing sixty pounds to the
bushel, the full weight, was graded
down as low as rejected. He be-
heved the wheat raised in 49, weigh
ing sixty pounds, would produce more
hour and of equally as good quality as
fohf i