The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-12
SELLING METHOD WRONG
Discomfort AmongWoo Growers
at Great Falls.
HAVE NO ORGANIZATION
They Are Alone to Blame for the Con-
dition of Affairs-Selling Is Now
azure Misunderstanding
Plant Needed.


this city certain amount of discon-
tent among the growers. They agree
that this is the best market in the
state, but that the method Of selling
here is wrong in some way or other
and they are probably right in the
complaint; the question is, are they
not at fault themselves for the con-
ditions? They ship their wool to Great
Falls. it is stacked up in the ware
house and then the dav comes when,
in faltering way, they put it on the
market and If they are lucky they re-
ceive eight or ten bids on it. They take
the highest bid and the transaction is
closed. They do not know how the
wool compares with other clips, they
do not know the percentage of Shrink
age there is nor do they know whether
or not by waiting day or a week they
would not have received a higher
price than they actually did. Who Is
to blame?
The buyers are here for the purpose
of getting as much wool and at as low
price as they can; the buyers have a
sort of an organization, whose rules
are vigorously observed by each men,
Der; whether or not they have formed
combination to keep prices down,
they are in position to do so. On
the other hand, the grower has no Or
ganization; he comes into the market
and takes chances; his neighbor may
get better price for an inferior wool;
he may refuse to sell his wool and con-
sign 1t at a loss Just as he did last
year. Whose fault is it?
The fruitgrowers of California solved
the question several years ago and they
decided that the fault lay at their own
doors. They formed an association and
they sold their product under the rul-
ing of that association and they find
that they annually save themselves
thousands of dollars. The Woolgrowers
of Australia have a similar orF aniza-
ton and there the grower. and not the
buyer, dictates the market. Why could
this not be done here?
Selling wool at the present time is
purely a gamble That fact has been
so thoroughly recognized that last year
a movement was made to establish
plant here for the securing of samples
from the various clips. The movement
progressed to a certain point and there
1t died and no man can say why, for the
whole thing involved only the expendi-
ture of 81, 200 and this is million and
a half dollar market. A buyer was
asked this afternoon the average per-
centage of shrinkage in Montana wool.
He replied
IT don't know, and. I would like to
meet the man who does If you can
get me a clip whose shrinkage will not
exceed so per cent, will pay you 20
cents pound for it and jump at the
chance. l know from experience that
the percentage is above that in all /
have ever bought, and | have known it
to run as high as 6S per cent on fair
clips
There is where the sample securing
plant would come in. Selling from a
secured sample means on the part of
the grower, knowledge to cent as to
what his clip is worth, for then he
knows that the Eastern market, less
the freight, is the price he should re-
ceive here. Now, he is selling on a
guess, and that is gamble. He lays
himself open to all kinds of deceit and
swindling and fails to remedy the mat
ter. There are me other queer things
freight on wool between this city and
Boston is s1.55 this year; last year it
was $140. The cost of baling raises
this to S1.60. The grower pays the
freight. He may not be the man who
actually writes out his check to the
railway company, but there can be no
doubt that the value of his product Is
the Eastern market price. less the cost
of transportation. Here Is where the
securing plant comes in second time,
this time on a scale large enouah to
clean every pound of wool brought to
this market Should this years sales
in Great Falls reach the predicted total
the grower will have to pay freight on
at least 100000 pounds of dirt and
grease, and that is placin~ he shrink
age at so per cent, figure declared by
the wool experts to be ridiculously low.
In other words, he will pay $1,000
freight on the dirt, etc. A plant of
sufficient capacity to scour every pound
of wool brought to this market could
be erected for $4,000. The profit IS
a matter of a very little figuring, but
outside of this general profit there Is
one derived from the by-products of
such plant and that is known only
to the expert on securing. OF course
there are objections to this scheme,
the railways would probably charge
higher rate on secured than on IN
secured wool, and it is also probable
that manufacturers East would hardly
give much more for the securing. as
each factory has to treat its own wool
in its peculiar method before using it.
However, all of these things could be
investigated and the securing plant
would undoubtedly earn a profit.
There is plenty of good wafer here and
power is cheap-all that is needed is
the small capital and the enterprise to
start the plant.
With a securing plant an association
of the woolgrowers of this part OF the
state could start off with fair ass"r-
ance of profit There is another source
of profit, indirectly. A charge of 5
cents per 100 pounds is made for baling
the wool after it is sold and before it
is shipped to it's Eastern destination.
Like the freight, the buyer pays it at
first hand. but he has already reckoned
it into the price he paid for the clip,
and therefore the grower must admit
that it comes out of the product of his
wears labor The association would
save this expense. If 100000 pounds
of wool are baled at this point this
year it means an expense of IS 600
which comes out of the growers. Of
course with a securing plant the cost
of baling would be very small but
this is another instance which the
grower is now overlooking. The gen.
tlen,an who now comes out each wear