The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-05-01
SOC per Year, 10c the Copy.
ONE YEAR OF AGGRESSION AND ENTERPRISE

Through our editorial columns and by
means of special news articles illus
trated by cartoons, and reinforced by
useful statistics, we have proved how
the meat packers and the middle men
are getting rich at the expense of
both the producer and the consumer;
how the retail price of meat is higher
| in the cities of the Pacific Northwest
| than in any other section of the Unit
ed States, while the prices paid to
| the producer are considerably lower
than the prices paid by the meat pack
ers of the middle western states to the
farmers of that section. So effective
has been the campaign which The
Ranch has waged in the interests of
the livestock growers that papers all
over the Pacific Coast, including the
Seattle Times and the Portland Ore
gonian, have been attracted by it and
have been forced to take it up as
| matter of news and editorial value
thus increasing and expanding the
mighty power of the press which is
behind the movement. The letter on
this page from the California farm
! paper is an exemplary one and shows
how widespread has been the interest
that we have created
Going still farther back, the readers
of the paper will remember how we
commenced a campaign for honest mar
kets and honest commission merchants
and produce people. By investigating
the methods of every dealer in Seattle
and other cities of the Pacific North
west, and exposing those whom we
| found to be dishonest, we believe we
| have done much to ferret out those
men who are a menace to the farmers,
| and to make it possible for the pro-
ducers to cOnsign goods without fear
of being cheated out of the greater
! portion of their profits. We have paid
| particular attention to Western Avenue
| in Seattle, as this is the greatest mar
ket in the Pacific Northwest, and have
even gone so far as to introduce a
market page containing a directory
| of dealers whom we have investigated
and have found, to the best of our
knowledge, to be reliable. Every deal
! er whose name appeared on this page
| in the first place and who has since
proved unreliable or unworthy of trust
has been stricken from the list, and
| this policy will be followed invariably
| in the future.
These things which we have recount
ed are only a few among many. We
have introduced many new depart
ments which we believe would be help
| full and instructive to our readers,
among which is the Irrigation Depart
ment, the Good Roads Department,
General Agriculture, The Market De-
partment, Mail Bag Department, full
er and more complete Editorial depart
ment, as we'll as an occasional depart
ment telling of the great productive
qualities of the land in the Pacific
Northwest We have also expanded
our Poultry, Dairy and Livestock de-
partments and have added a number
of important contributors to our staff
We have likewise given our readers
the benefit of Veterinary and Legal
service. Mr.. Walden has continued his
excellent Horticultural department
and during the past year has attempt
ed to make it even better than ever
before. We expect in the year to come
| to make even greater conquests and
| to continue with all energy and en-
| thusiasm to attain our ambition OF
! making The Ranch the greatest and
| most popular farm paper in America.