Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-03-31
HILL ON GRAIN GROWING.

HILL ON GRAIN GROWING.
President Hill Of the Great Northern
appeared before the $50 delegates Mt
the grain growers convention ut Fargo
and made an address on matters of in
terest particularly to all agricultural
elements of the state. The Great
Northern president is n of the
shrewdest business men Of the country
and no man understands better the
conditions that prevail in farming
countries and the wisdom of better
methods, and Of opening new markets.
A portion Of Hills speech which deals
with these matters is of general inter
est and Importance:
II believe that the valley is destined
to become more famous because of the
wheat, and that the farmer will con
time to make wheat his crop. 1t isn't
possible to raise good wheat without
good seed, and u good system Of drain
age. think if the farmers in the val
ley will cultivate more thoroughly, ro-
tate crops, summer fallow, spread Il
light manure-nOt heavy where the
land is light-they will find it will pay
them better than in any other way.
1t is not unreasonable that the farmer
should expect an average of twenty
five bushels, which would give him
wheat ut 30 cents per bushel. If our
farmers will try to do their work nor
thoroughly, cultivate the land as it
c10,,01 1o %hnx, will rO% n IL ,,rau ,,N
turn off less acreage, and have O
money to the credit of the wheat field
when the season is e You can't
go on year after year taking away the
wealth Of the soil, without giving
back. We must have stock and cat
tie, and hogs may be raised with profit.
lines of the Great Northern east of
OF cattleE than we do from all the
ranges from that place west to the
coast.
"A few weeks ago there vas a great
deal of agitation Over inspection and
dockage. The interest was quite ac-
tive, and while in st. Paul a committee
from your Legislature called upon me.
Looking the matter up 1 found the
'tOCNdSc NdS iDouI fE1 pouliuS W tlc
bushel on North Dakota wheat,
amounting to a total Of 100000. We
have two large elevators ut Superior
handling Il large portion of the North
Dakota crop. These elevators are
practically run on the screenings.
We buy no fuel, but the chaff is car
ried from the screenings room to the
boiler by pneumatic tubes. The
c,,o;r1,+ ~, &1xo% n,,o,,r% of s,,,,y,vifinS.
in the grain costs annually about
$500, 900, which is too much money to
throw away. 1t could be used to good
advantage at home. There is enough
Of these screenings carried from
North Dakota to Minneapolis and West
Superior to feed 10000 head of sheep
annually. If you will avoid this. use
good seed and clean land. You can't
use poor seed and get a good return.
There Is q great deal more smut in
wheat than formerly, and If smut once
gets into IL wheat field it will not be
confined to that alone, but will breed
other impurities. But smut alone will
cut the price of all the wheat i'll the
field. The man who buys your grain
will dock you, and you have no de-
Tense.
"The question Of state inspection is
becoming an important one, but this
will prove difficult of control unless
the ultimate market Is in the state
where the grain is graded. Mime
sofa, through the grain commission,
fixes a standard of grain, and l know
that no matter how much you COM
plain, that standard is the only one
generally accepted. and to abolish it,
without a better system, would cost
ut least . cents a bushel. I have n
farm and sell my wheat as you sell
yours, and further, I have no interest
in inspection. Federal inspection
under the department Of agriculture
might secure IL uniform and possibly a
better inspection than by a single
state. You. in North Dakota, would
feel, at least, that you had a represen-
tative. l don't thing it would improve
the system of inspection, but YOU
would have the advantage Of being
represented.
good, and the crop good, If well cult.
waited. You have the lowest rates of
transportation of any of the grain rails
Is to 40 per cent. With good soil
>AAAAAhtC, SOAOANAOlS, il1u AON II uLSpOI'
tation to markets, why is the valley
land not worth more than the land in
Iowa and Minnesota? That it does
not sell for SO much is admitted, but
it should be worth from $40 to $50 pei
ere. In Des Moines 1 had no diff
Guilty in selling at $50 per acre, and
have land in the northern end of the
valley and all I can get is $12. The
price of property is nothing like II
should be.
1--WE have taken our crop from the
seed to the market, and when we get
there, there Is nothing to compel the
purchaser paying a higher price than
he desires. No amount Of legislation
or individual effort will raise the price
beyond that fixed by supply and de.
mand. How are you going to raise
the price of grain? You can do II
readily If you raise half a crop. II
you reduced the crop 25 per cent the
result would be higher priced grain,
But that would be an unreasonable
course. 1t should not be necessary
to abandon the cultivation Of the soil
to the best advantage. The price of
farm product is made by supply and
demand in Europe. They know that
tho TIni%o<1 N<o%oo ,oiooc 1O0 mn mn