Judith Gap journal., 1909-08-20
SOUND ADVICE OF ].
]. HILL TO FARMERS
Tne G. n. Magnate Talks Of Crops
Farmers Should Not Glut Market.

James j. Hill of the Great North
ern, talked with his customary ami
nation and earnestness recently to a
group of city officials and members of
the Commercial club at Grand Forks,
North Dakota. Naturally the crop
situation was the first thing discussed,
as this is always close to Mr.. Hills
heart. AS his address is equally
adapted to Montana conditions, we
reproduce from it literally.
"You have a splendid crop" he
said, land now the important thing
is to take care of it, Get it cut.
Every man must understand that it
does not pay to take any chances. No
body knows what may happen to the
crop as long as it is in the field. Hail
may knock it out, rain may spoil it,
and almost anything may happen to
it. And when it is cut and threshed
do urge your farmers not to rush it
all on to the market at once. We can
take care of it as fast as it can be
delivered at one end and unloaded at
the other. But don't glut the ma rket.
You can't get price if you do that.
This crop ought to bring a good price.
We all want to see that. But it won't
bring price if it is dumped in all at
once. People are not going to bid
actively on an article that is being
rushed to the market faster than it can
be stored or manufactured. Last
year tried the experiment of holding
my wheat. | kept it at home until
me time to get my fall work done.
sold the wheat later around a dollar
and quarter bushel. My neigh
bors who hurried their marketing got
about 50 cents. l made money on
the crop by waiting, and l got my
work done. The average farmer can
do the same thing if he is good man.
ager. Possibly he needs some money
in the fall to pay his expenses. Very
we'll He can get it. The banks will
supply him, and he can better afford
to pay the interest than to dump his
crop on a glutted market and spend
his time hauling when he should be
getting his land in shape for another
crop.
Consumption Increasing.
1--WE are raising only a little more
wheat in this country than we use.
Our production is big in the aggregate,
but our consumption is increasing
faster. This yearwe will raise perhaps
10000, 900 bushels more than we need
for home consumption. We may ac-
tually sell l2O 900 900 bushels. We do
that right along. But we will do
what we did last year. After ship
ping all the grain out of the north
west faster than the market can alb
sorb it, along toward spring we will
begin shipping back from the Atlantic
ports, sweeping the eastern bins clean,
and redistributing the wheat from
Chicago and Kansas City. That is a
waste of effort, and it does not help
the Moth Dakota farmer whose crop
has already been sacrificed. What
happens when you have Il big crop
and it is rushed to market ? Tables OF
receipts are published every day.
The buyer reads that the receipts to-
day are SO many millions more than at
the corresponding period last year
Down goes theprice two, five, ten cents
Il bushels. And at the same time the
worlds conditions may Justify much
higher price, and the higherprice will
be realized later on when things have
had time to adjust themselves.
Every year marks an increase il
the price of northwestern lands, but
prices are still long way from where
they belong, and where they can b'
placed. Properly farmed every acre
Of good land in the northwest is capa
bic Of yielding profit of S75. q
course it doesn't do it. Why? JUS
because the land isn't being treate,
right. Its fertility is not what it was
There is no reason why the yiel,
should diminish. 1t is all Il matter o
management. You need more cattle
more hogs, more crop variety. Their
has been an improvement in this dl