The San Francisco call., 1898-01-14
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
 OF FARMERS
Results of an InVestigdtioD Among Wheat-Roisers in
 Yolo County.

Several days were spent by Call rep resentatives among the farmers in diff ferent sections of Yolo County, and many were the side lights thrown upon the handling of San Quentin bags. There were some who, while admitting that they had heard and seen enough to be convinced that merchants and speculators were deriving a good in come from the handling of prison bags, were opposed to making any statement for publication for fear, as they ex- plained, lest they might provoke the wrath of men to whom they were un- der obligations, in one way or another. Farmers who till thousands of acres, as we'll as men who have barely enough land on which to eke out living, were seen, and nearly all expressed the opin- ion that a thorough investigation should be made.
 That San Quentin bags can be pro- cured in large quantities without the necessity of filing an affidavit is proven beyond doubt, while the prices charg- ed by these dealers, including freight from San Quentin, vary from the fac- tory price to nearly p per cent above.
 George Scott owns and farms more land than any other man in Yolo Coun- ty, his farm lying about sixteen miles from Woodland. Last season he re- ouired 10000 sacks to hold his crop Of wheat. MT. Scott does not use San Quentin sacks, because the Calcuttas are cheaper and answer the purpose just as well, although they are not quite as good in quality as the prison | goods.
 Tt has long been a mystery to me, ,' | said MT. Scott, ''why sacks cannot be | manufactured at San Quentin prison at a less cost than they can be inn ported from Calcutta, but whenever want to buy any, I find that the latter are the cheapest, and so l take them. l The San Quentin factory is supposed i to be operated for the benefit of the i farmers, but I fail to see where they derive mulch benefit from it. Regard ing the handling of prison bags by dealers, of course l cannot speak from experience, as I have never purchased | any, but I have no doubt that anybody can get all the prison bags he wants In season, without sending to San Quen- tin for them"
 Charles T. Day lives about three miles southwest of Woodland on one of the largest and richest farms in the Sacramento Valley, which he is proud to call his own. MT. Day is well known | throughout the State and is generally
 
 a shrewd business man. But when the subject of prison bags was brought tC his attention he laughingly admitted that there were some things of which he had but vague knowledge, and one of those was the management of the San Quentin jute factory.
 "I understand the law governing the sale of prison-made bags" said MT Day, but I imagine there are few farmers in this section, at least. but | know that it's provisions are evadeC and violated in one way or another have told some of the men I knew to bt dealing in bags that the affair would be thoroughly ventilated sooner ol later.
 "Why, only last season." MT. Day continued "a certain dealer in thi: town whose name I must decline tC give, came to me and asked me why didn't buy 'culls' instead of the regulal sacks. I had never heard of 'culls' be fore. and I asked him what they were
 "'Dontyou know about these culls 9 asked he. apparently surprised at m! ignorance.
 II confessed that I did not, and h, explained what culls were, and assure, me that they were as good as the reg ular bags. That was the first I eve heard of culls, and I told this part, that exposure would come eventually but he did not seem to think so
 "I did not buy any culls, but went t,