The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-02
THEY 60 on RECORD
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Continued from Third Page.
haul them here and return, and a great many
came. but some of them wanted. instead
OF coming when the grain was green and the
experiments were in progress. to wait until
| the winter, and come down during the ses-
| sion of the legislature, when they could hear
| the speeches. The invitation was not for
that purpose. We are, however, always glad
to forward the cause of agriculture.
| The modern farmer, too, is interested in
good roads He spends large portion of
! his time on the highway. His margin of
profit depends largely on the amount that he
| can haul on a single load.
| / remember when l was a boy, when the
farmer sold his wheat for IS or so cents,
and hauled it thirty miles, his margin was
| very small. He could not afford to stop at
rowed hot water for his tea or coffee at a
farm house along the road. Yet we talk
OF the good old times. Recently, the farmer
has suffered from low prices but they have
been as nothing compared with those Of the
men who settled the country. We have
had bright days and we have had dark days,
and hope that we will continue to have
more bright ones than dark ones many fold.
(Applause).
The farmer must to be successful, as must
man in any other vocation, work under the
right conditions. He must have a good soil,
favorable climate and the intelligence to use
all his facilities and opportunities to the
best advantage. We have better tools today
than our fathers had or than they have in
any JULIET pOrllOn OF the world. In a large
| part of Europe they still use the sickle.
You all remember when the farmer held the
plow in the furrow by main force. Now he
sits on spring seat and plows one, two, or
has been superseded by the wagon box or
the drill. In the fall, instead of following
the cradle-and it was a good man who
could keep up with the cradle all day-he
mounts his spring seat again and rides his
modern harvester over the field. The condi-
lions are changing.
AT the fair a year ago l met a number
of my farmer friends l did not tell them
| to hold their wheat, for I could not assume
the responsibility for such a suggestion, but
to many of them, 1 said that 1 had in my
granary not only the crop of 1885, but that
of 1895, and that l would not sell bushel
until it was worth 70 cents. l sold it in No
vember, and, before l had it all hauled to
the station, it was selling for SO cents I
thought we were doing pretty we'll then, but
it is higher now. believe that we will have
dollar wheat from time to time but 1 do
| not believe that it is here to stay.
Now we are faced by different conditions;
the crop is short and prices high; but don't
! let us feel that the previous conditions will
never come again, for while we may continue
to have better prices than last year and the
year before, the production is sure to be
larger in future years. Dollar wheat may
come occasionally, but never to stay for any
length of time.
The farmer has it in his power, however, to
keep the price of wheat higher than he
usually gets. If, when he harvests it, he
would put it in stack, making a good stack
that will shed the water, and then go about
his fall blowing, selling only enough to raise
what immediate money he needs, and market
it at his leisure, he will, l am sure, realize
8 to 10 cents bushel more than if all rush
into the market to dispose of their crop. Last
closes and the wheat movement ceases the
remainder Of the crop is put in the elevators.
The purchaser must pay the elevator charges
and the insurance, yet after all these paid,
nf Of hoo &c hicrhn hon, Tho
fall.
Take it on my own road, for example. For
the past four years we have carried during
the months of October and November every
year. 20, 0000 coo bushels of wheat. How can
it be otherwise than that the purchaser will
say. 81 can get all the wheat l want at lower
prices. If the farmers would build graneries
and hold their grain, the difference they would
receive for one crop alone would pay for the
cost of the graneries. 1 have watched it and
know it to be fact. Now at the present
figure, it is a great temptation to the far
mers to sell their wheat soon possible;
but the effect Of this haste will be only to
break the price on themselves. l hope they
will hold it; they needn't be afraid that the
price will fall for this crop if they do so,
and they can take advantage of this fine
weather to prepare for the next crop.
The railroad transportation rate is some
thing which affects the farmer as much as
anything else in proportion. The rates at
present are about eight-tenths of cent per
ton per mile, or so cents ton for 100 miles.
How does this compare with other countries
In Eng and they are 1924 a ton per 100 miles,
in France $210 in Austria $40 in Germany
1872 and in Russia where the roads are all
owned by the government, $3.50; so you see
in the United States they are only one-third
of what they are in England, and much less
than one-haf of the rates in the other coun-
tries.
The farmers of America. with their good
soil, climate, intelligence and industry, can
successfully compete with the farmers of any
other country, and there is in every intelligent
man, be he merchant, lawyer. banker or man
ufacturer a deep and individual interest in
the success of the American farmer, for they
know that in his success lies their own pros
perity and the prosperity of the nation
Every thinking man, therefore, will aid to the
success Of this backbone of the nations
strength.
The quantity of grain production will in
crease in this and new countries as they
are opened up. These conditions we must
meet whether We want to or not, and every
farmer must study the best, most advanced
and most intelligent methods of prosecuting
his work. Our home market is limited; We
cannot possibly eat all we produce No mat
ter how great our manufacturing interests
may be developed. we cannot hope to con-
sumo all our agricultural productions. The
home market is to- be fost 9red. hat we must
look to the disposal of the surplus-and let
me tell you one thing, the price of the sur
plus controls the price of the crop. We may
amelorate this condition but we cannot con-
troll it.
Now what has been done in this country to
extend market? In 1892, on my first trip
UP the Pacific coast, l found why the Eastern
farmers could not get the prices they formerly
got for grain. There were new conditions
affecting them. California Oregon and Wash
ington were raising fine quality of wheat
for pastry and the various "breakfast food"
preparations and this wheat crossed the euua-
tor twice on its way to Europe. 1t had to be
in good condition for this transit and was
allowed to stand until it had sweat as
the farmers express it. so it was the first
of November before the expectation COM
menced. 1t took four months to make the
passage and following this UP 1 found that
the last shipload was leaving the first
was arriving in England. Go to any pro-
duce commission exchange in London and
you would find the notice chalked up: Cali
fornia or Oregon wheat; ahoat 20 OGO 900
bushels'-or %, eco 900 or 80 COO 0GO as the case
might be. People who had any intention of
buying would say, there's no hurry; there's
lots of wheat on the way here so can wait
awhile'-and this acted a wet blanket
They don't question when it will arrive; it
is sufficient for them to know it is coming
| found that if we could open up another
market for this wheat it would help every
bushel raised east OF the Rocky mountains,
by selling that raised the coast to new
consumers Then there wouldn't be this
enormous amount ''afoat." l sent q man
to China and kept him there a year; wanted
to know at what price American flour could
displace rice as their principal article of
food. and if could dispace rice what
other market they could ind for The latter
would it become so cheap mat they would
return to it. bright young Chinaman to
whom l put this question made this answer:
|'Mr. Hill. in the province of Foo Chow we
have S0,00O,O00 people. They cannot raise
any wheat Tor can they transport il from the
Northern provinces. Now if you give each
person in that province an ounce o. flour
a day, it will take more than you can raise
in the whole MississioDi valley. And that
is true, too; you can figure it out for your
selves. 1t means 5000 900 pounds of flour
day, or so 200, 900 bushels annually-one- half
of our average annual EXPORT.
1 felt encouraged, and thought If we could
open a market in China it would help the
condition of our market. l called the atten-
ton OF nnhlin men to- the fact that the gov