Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-09-03

| cOmmerc1al enterprises dIS, SloGhuolu-
ers or the depositors would have a
check of some kind on the dishonest
bankers among them. The honest
banker would welcome such system.
| FIELD FOR LOCAL PACKING PLANTS.
Farmers who have access to the mar
ket of a local packing house have never
had an opportunity to appreciate the
benefits of such an institution so keen
| ly as during the progress of the Chi
cago strike this summer While hun
dreds of men, dependent wholly upon
the Chicago market have been cornpe1l-
ed to hold their hogs in their feed lots
month after month waiting for the
packers to get in shape to handle them,
feeding 5O-cent corn and building up
heavy hogs only to find that heavy
weights are not wanted when they do
reach market, the farmers within &C
cess to local packing house have had
a ready market for all of their light
|
per hundred pounds more than hey
would have received had they Shipped
to Chicago.
/ What this means to a community and
what field for these small plants
there is yet undeveloped. is well illus
trated by the plant at MarshalltoWn.
which has just determined to spen5
nearly $4,000 for betterments. This
/ plant paws a million and half of doll
/ lars annually for hogs, to the farmers
of four counties. The most of it's SUPP
! plies come from one county and adj
Joining farms of the counties bordering /
The last government census gave tine
farms of Iowa at 22S,622 in number
If each farm should turn off an average
crop of sixty hogs per year the total
annual hog crop of the state would be
about fourteen millions. This is not
wild estimate for the reason that the
census count of 1900 found nearly ten
millions on the farms of Iowa at that
/ time. Based upon this total each OF
the ninety-nine counties of Iowa should
raise for market annually 100000 hogs
and yet the packing house at Marshall
town kills annually only about 100000
per year.
If the independent plant could be de-
veloped to it's utmost every county seat
/ town in Iowa could have a packing
plant employing $50 men and paying
out 100000 per year for wages, and a
million and half for hogs. SuGh
plant would then handle only two
| thirds of the county's hog crop. To do
this railroad rates would have to be re-
organized so as to shut off present ia
! yors to the big concerns, few trust
busters would have to be elected to Of
, fee and the farmers would have to
stand resolutely together in favoring
the independent plants.
The proposition of beef killing by
small plants is different one. Beef
must be marketed while fresh. To do
this lines of refrigerator cars are nee
essary and distributing depots are
needed Several small packing houses
in Iowa are killing beef, but not many
are attracted to the business. The large
concerns with refrigerated warehouses
| in every imortant city make it possible
for the local butcher to obtain few
pounds of beef, a veal, some mutton,
poultry or wild game of almost any
kind in small quantities. Such facill-
ties are not possible to the small con-
Germ, yet there is a market for their
beef and several are killing One small
concern at Rockford, Ill, has contract
ed it's entire output for five years. The
ranch men of the west are trying hard
to build packing plant of their own
but so far have made no Roadway. The
possibilities are not near so great as In
the pork packing industry.