The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-05-05

Forum: Your editorial of April 20
urging the Dakota farmers to use
durum -four is advice that II sounded
down the editorial line through the
Dakotas. and reIigiously lived up to,
would simply mean S7.ooo.oO0 saved to
the farmers Of the Dakotss. for that is
just how the 80 cents differential ag-
ures out between 20,00o,000 and 30,-
100000 bushels of durum wheat
Let us review the durum situation
and see where the farmers stand as to
durum today, and what Of its future,
and how the future can be Influenced
for the benefit of the farmers.
The $4,000 invested by Secretary
Wilson in connection with the distri-
button Of durum seed wheat in 1900
has already given returns durum har-
vests aggregating $500, 900. 900 in value
That's answer enough to any one who
| refers to the growing of durum wheat
as an ephemeral fad. II $4,000 invest
ments in "fads'' would uniformly re-
turn s20.00oO00 in less than ten years.
"fads" would be the most popular
things on this earth today. 8
The growers of durum have been
hard hit by the elevator men. Durum
has had a hard row to hoe. but no
harder than Minnesota spring or
Kansas turkey red" They ran the
gamut of troubles thick and fast. and
by sheer worth downed the opposition,
just as is 1urum doing today. So it's
just case of history repeating itself.
Durum is no chance, hit or miss, fad
wheat. Russia, Egypt, Spain, Arabia,
India, Chilli, Nicaragua, South Africa,
have raised 1t for years. Russia
prides herself on her Kubauka wheat,
and when the quotations go upon the
exchange boards Kubauka (durum)
leads and carries a premium-sells at
the topmost notch. And there's a rea-
son. No wheat in the world for bread
or pastry equals the -four made from
Kubauka durum wheat. Mark that
down in big letters. And the Dakota
farmers, ignorant of these facts, refus-
| ing to eat the bread from durum -four,
they sell their aggregate crop at
$1,000. 900 differtniaI discount, and go
on eating bread from any -four the
general store happens to have in stock.
Again. What is 1t that gives value
trary demand. If in a village one
house only is for sale and fifty new
corners are after that house. want 1t
badly well. that's arbitrary demand,
and the owner of that house finds a
ready market. The demand exceeds
the supply. II on the other hand the
unsold houses dot the village streets, a
score of "for sale" signs in view, and
but one buyer, then the buyer is in
control-and he buys at his own price.
1t is just the same with durum
wheat. Nobody in the Dakotss thought
enough Of durum wheat to eat durum
bread. There was no home consump-
tfon The wheat was shipped out.
Maybe Europe wanted it, some of it.
and may be the millers and macaroni
men might use some-and the demand
being precarious and uncertain, the
elevator man said: Thirty cents off"
to the farmer and he accepted.
What are the facts? The exporters
liked our durum, and IL the farmers
would only plant Kubauka and Belo-
| turka strains of seed, and take care to
| send 1t out clean and up to grade, all
Europe stands ready to take ten times
what we export today. They don't use
our durum or the Russian or other
durum solely for macaroni, they use
the -four for bread making, and when
ever a traveller gets into a district
where durum flour is used for bread,
he remembers that district because Of
| the bread he ate there" Some of our
durur1 goes into domestic macaroni,
and it won't be long before the manu-
- -
learn that blends of soft and hard
wheats may make something called
/ and sold as "macaroni." but the real,
simon pure goods of high grade
capable Of competing with the foreign
goods, can be made only from durum
wheat, and no other.
The mills grind durum into -four but
4 they have a way of mixing 1t with
softer fours and raising the value OF
the softer hours as bread makers into
the first place at the highest prices
Estimates are more or less reliable and
estimates have been made that as much
as 10,O00,00G bushels of durum wheat
have gone into Minneapolis and pre-
sumably been blended with other fiours
| Again, repeat 1t, all that Is needed
| to put durum where 1t belongs Is two
things: Arbitrary demand and total
| harvest of 900, 100000 bushels. enough
to let the bread eating public know
| that duTun1 is on earth.
Here is clipping cut from the cur
rent issue of The ~ w. Miller Re-
port from Duluth:
"Durum Wheat-The foreign call for
durum was the feature last week, and
| ii was a big time for exporting in the
local market. Foreigners were clamor-
| ing for wheat at all stages regardless
of price, and much difficulty was ex-
perienced in supplying the demand.
Highest point reached was $1.16h for
| both MAY and July on Saturday.
\ Market was inclined to be easier today,
1 Monday, prices breaking sharply with
a loss of l isc from high point The diff
ference between spring and durum is
gradually narrowing the May option
showing only 8Asc where 1t was 14hc
last year.
| You cannot get away from that. OF
course sympathy with general high
prices. ETC., etc, may be the accredited
cause for this advance. Maybe so.
But there. Is very safe way to start
durum on an upward trend and keep it
there, even 70 the extent of dupli-
eating the Russian situation with Ku-
banka wheat viz, at premium above
No. | northern. Like the old fish
woman's eel, that, when skinned alive
and squirming, didn't mind 1t, cause
! IL was used to it, as the old Eluckster
| explained It, So with the farmer he is