The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-07-26
D R Y RA n GE
AND SHEEP
INDUST RY


Frank ]. Hagenbarth who Is rep
resentative OF the Wood Livestock
COMPANY, which company has two
million dollars in cash invested in the
industry, was ia POcatello Saturday,
and in a talk with the Pocatello Trib.
une, said:
Unless it rains on the Idaho range
within the next few weeXs. Sheepmen
VIII sustain an enormous loss. Every
expense entering into the Industry
has more than doubled in the last few
years. Hay has gone up from SS to
$3.50 per ton to as high as $12 per
ton that many of us had to pay last
winter and even then, had 10 ship
corn In from Kansas and Nebraska,
and to 81 and 50 per ton for this
summer. Wages of herders have gone
up from S25 TO S35 per month with
board to $50 per month with board.
And better board is demanded now
than was true then, too 1t costs fully
twice as much to feed the men now
than it cost only a few years ago.
Every mans hand seems to be
raised against the Sheepmcn. In
taxes. in cost of feed. in rental that
we have TO pay for grazing land and
in every other way things are against
us. a few years ago we were getting
our grazing land free both from the
government and from the state, but
now We have to pay a grazing zee
both t@ the government and TO the
state and are practically driven TO
own all the land upon which we Craze
our shecp
Il wap astonished In close exam
ination or the books OF our company
for the Purpose of making return 10
the government IN the corporation
tax to ascertain that last year we mad
only > ueT cent upon the actual cash
invested. and taking the loss to the
plant BY way of depreciation in the
price of Sheep as they grow old, we
did not make even that much We
maintain al least twenty families in
Idaho or ranches looking after our
interests In Fremont and Lemhl coun-
ties, and distribute annually many
thousands of dollars for help and sup.
plies in these counties. We cannot
make as much money now with wool
at % and % cents a pound as we could
make a few years ago with wool at
10 and 1G cents, With wool ar those
prices now VIC would absolutely have
to go out OF business as the business
could not be conducted without an an
uual loss.
The price OF wool is getting back
10 q satisfactory figure again, 100000
pounds having been sold in Montana
recently at q and % cents The
trouble was that some OF the sheep
mon got unreasonable and were going
TO demand 25 to 30 cents for their
wool and refused to sell for less. That
made the buyers mad and they laid In
a big supply and then refused to buy
for less than Is and 16 cents The
result was that both lost money and
the sheep industry has been all up
set II Is. however, reaching an
equilibrium just as other business is
doing You know there is always a
tendency TO run wild along certain
lines We see II on the mining ex-
changes where certain stocks will
have an unreasonable run and then
suddenly without any more reason
take a tumble downward. The same
thing is true OF real estate, of dia-
monds and Of every other thing The
sheep industry is no execution. and~we
are just now in the midst OF an equal
i2atIon period which will soon settle
down TO a stable condition