Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-02-07
HARD ON The FARMERS
Long Continued Cold Weather
Finds Them lnprcpared
With Rough Feed
MONEY SHORT AS a RESULT
Using Much Corn They Had Expected
to Sell, in Order to Keep Stock Alive
Fewer Cattle Being Fed This Win
ter - Marketable Corn Will Be
Shorter Than Expected by Many.

Special to Times Republican.
Union, Feb. 1.-THE continued cold
weather of tho present winter is going
TO work q hardship on the average
farmer of Iowa, according to Well
known farmer and feeder OF this place,
who made the statement in conversa-
ton with a T.-R. correspondent
There are many reasons. the farmer
continued, and the principal one Is
that the farmer has been used to mild
winters for SO long he is unprcpared
this year to stand a genuine old
fashioned winter, and had not laid in
supply of roughness to last him
turnout half the season. The result
Is he Is feeding good corn, that he IN
tended to sell. and is therefore out of
pocket"
While this manner of reckoning may
not have been considered seriously by
many there is more to the subject
than appears at first glance. Nearly
every farmer of central Iowa figures
each year on selling at least part OF ais
corn. He may expect to feed some OF
it, but this year he expected to sell u
good share of it at II big price, later
in the season. The continued severe
weather has resulted in his having all
ready fed most of his hay and shock
fodder, and he pulls into his corn crib
and uses that same corn that he had
expected to see along in March. when
the price scars upward.
Money Short as Result.
There is no getting around the fact
that the money market has frightened
to certain extent as result. Far
mers who had expected to sell their
corn, but are feeding it instead, will,
of course, fail to realize the money out
of their corn Consequently If they
are being carried at the bank they
cannot take up their notes, and the
banks will have to carry them for per-
haps another year. The cause mar
rows itself down to the cold winter
again, for il the weather had not been
so severe most of the farmers would
have had sufficient supplies Of rough
ness in store, and could have used in
feeding a cheaper article where the
higher priced feed is drawn upon, and
using it is just like taking money out
of their pockets and throwing 1T into
the feed lot.
Supply of Corn Short.
While it may not be realized by the
average person. and possibly not by
the farmer-feeder who is in business
on a small scale, and perhaps depend
ing on his own corn supply to answer
81 hi
supply is rapidly diminishing, and it is
hard for the large feeder to get the
corn he has contracted for. An exam
pie of this is shown by the fact that
e. w. Lundy & Son. who are probably
the most extensive feeders in this part
of the country, are having hard work
to get the corn necessary to keep their
stock on full feed. The Messrs Lundy
are feeding at the present time on
their farm, four miles west OF town,
21O head of steers, in addition to con-
siderable butcher stuff and between 500
and COO head of hogs. They raised TO-
600 bushels of corn themselves, and 1t
has long since gone. They contracted
for several lots, and from a farmer
who had agreed to let them have l.
500 bushels, they received only sou,
the farmer requiring the rest to feed
himself, for he had run out Of rough
ness, which he had expected to use in
his feeding, which, however, is only
conducted on a small scale. From an
other farmer, who had promised the
Lundys that he would deliver them
1900 bushels, $50 bushels were re-
ceived, and that was all that could
possibly be spared.
Will Fall Short in March.
For the reason that more corn is
being fed at the present time than was
contemplated earlier in the season, it
is thought by many that in March,
when many farmers expected to sell
their corn at high figure, the supply
Of marketable corn will be So per cent
smaller than the government report
predicted The fact that there is more
feeding being done will not be alone
that was thought would prove good
will be found, in the spring, to be
moldy, and if it stands too long it will
rot. Many farmers who have not dug
down deep into their corn cribs will
probably look upon this statement as
but a farmer here who
has Investigated his own corn, has al
ready found that there is danger OF
losing some Of 1T from mold.
Fewer Cattle Being Fed.
In this part of the country, and it
is said to be fact that near Union
there are more cattle fed than in any
part of the state, excepting Ida Grove
and it's vicinity, fewer cattle are be-
ing fed this winter than last. In Prov
idence township this winter there are
twenty-four loads now on feed, where
there were si2ty-fiye at the same time
last winter. The farmer expected that
corn would at least touch so cents by
spring, and he did not feed because he
would rather sell his corn than put it
into cattle. For the past two years in
this part Of the country feeding has
barely been an even game. The small
feeder, who raised his own corn, came |
out even, and perhaps a little to the
good, because he was not at the mercy |
OF the corn raiser. The large feeder,
however, held on and held on. and lost
in the end, and the men who lost the
least were those who took their medi-
cine at the start. Some Of the larger
feeders paid the high price for corn
around 40 and so cents and fed six
teen months, waiting for the market to
touch point that they could afford
20 coll 2.yaar-o1d steer will