Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-12
CORN AT SIXTY CENTS.
HOW Shrcwd Farmer Raised the
Value of His Crop.

Des Moines Leader
j. j. Chandler of Shenandoah, Ia writes
the Sentinel of that place as follows:
AS there seems to be some doubt in the
minds of some of your readers as to the cor
rcctness of my estimate of prices realized
from corn fed to 10l cattle at Solomon and
as that estimate was made from memory, l
have since taken the trouble to make a state
ment from bills of cost and sale of cattle,
which l hand you and which is as follows:
September l, 1856, 1Ol cattle cost in
Cost of driving same home........'. g s.
Interest on money. ey......7.............. Il 4
December 20, 1895, i6i cattle net in i'''''0 .
Chlcaso ''..'.......,............... l47 81
Balance ............................ ,2sS G5
amount of corn fed. COO bushels
Net per el.......................532 cents
In the above statement make no account
Of hog feed for 100 hogs following the cattle &"
Mr.. Chambers statement is a perfect illus
tration of the possibilities of realizing on
lowas surplus grain at this time. It shows
precisely the possibilities of bringing stock
from o,her states, not as rich in grain but
richer in stock than Iowa. Mr.. Chandler
has done just what Henry Wallace recon-
mends the Iowa farmer to do, and just what
he wants the railroads to help in doing.
Mr.. Wallace proposes that the roads grant
ieeding-in-transit rates to promote bringing
stock cattle into Iowa. Under such an
arrangement cattle could be bought in
western states and billed to the Chicago
market at regular through rates. Arrived
at the desired point in Iowa, they could be
stopped fattened on Iowas cheap corn, and
when finished, sent on under the original
billing, getting the benefit of the through
rate from the original point of shipment
n through rate Is much less than the sum
lDp1lg Millions OD mi pf liC oh
els of corn are in Iowa ready for feeding,
If only the stock can be had. The money is
here to help the process; the banks have
ii, and Mr.. Wallace, who has investigated
the matter says they would use it in the
furtherance of such legitimate speculatons.
The case of Mr.. Chandler is an exception
in that he lives so near to a western stock
cattle market that he could drive his stock
home. farmer at n greater distance
from Omaha could not do so, and the rail
road rates would at once become a serious
consideration. 1t is for such cases that
feeding g-in-transit rates are wanted. The
freight agents of Des Moines have decided
to recommend their roads to grant the
One of them declares that
restrictions can easily be devised to prevent
fraudulent use of the privilege. 1t would
seem that the consent of the railroad man
ayers is the only thing needed to put the
plan into execution.
To turn Iowa's immense surplusage of
grain into money at reasonable prices will
solve the present business problem, so far
as this state is concerned. The railroads
should be able to see IT, a practical step
would be for representatives of Iowa bust
ness organizations to go to the railroad head |
quarters and lay the matter before the man
ayers Would it not be within the province
Of the Commercial exchange to take inn
mediate steps to secure the cooperation of
5ther like organizations in Iowa, in sending
4 strong joint committee to Chicago to
confer with the railroad men?