Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-05-16

the grain dealers cooperate by paying a
slightly advanced price for pure grain of
these varieties which are adopted or
recommended. If any community will put
such a plan into operation ii will not take
long to establish the growing of preferred
varieties in such community. The grain
dealer should make 1t to the advantage OF
the farmer to sell corn of pure color and
wheat OF high grade. by paying "A higher
price for Such grain, and advertise the
fact.
Grain dealers and many others are prone
TO give the farmers a great deal OF free
advice. Such advice does no, amount to
much unless it is backed by dollars. What
we need today is example and practice.
Secretary Houston says again. we are
cluttered up with knowledge. we must get
out and set it to work on the farm
Theory and Practice.
The day of book farming and second
hand platform advice and instruction is
passing. This is the day %! county agri-
cultural experts. Demonstration. example
and up-to-date practice ON the farm are
the present day watch words of agricul-
tural progress. and l hope YOU grain men
will get behind this movement with your
money and your influence. because it is
the most successful method Yet devised
to establish correct farming practices
which will most fully conserve the soil and
the crops.
Crop conservation may be- Increased by
providing more and better storage ca
pacity for the grain on the farm. 1t is
still too common a practice in our west
ern states to store corn in great piles on
the prairie with no protection from rain
and SNOW. The practice of selling. grain
at thrashing time tends to dump IA large
quantity on the market at one time. which
has a tendency to glut the market and
- l-. I'D. 1, H. :l-
grain elevators are taxed beyond their
capacity to handle and care for the grain
properly under the present system. III
more of TIL. grain of all kinds could be
stored on the farms and marketed grad
ually during the year 1t would be to
the advantage of both the seller and the
buyer. and I believe would in a measure
prevent speculation and manipulation of
prices
In the old Egyptian days Joseph bought
and stored grain in great government
store houses during the years of plenty"
and was able to feed the people during
the years of famine without increasing
the price of grain. God. himself, intro
duced this method of conserving the crops
for the use of a nation and I believe that
it is not an impracticable plan to be adopt
ed today i'm our country. We may we'll
establish government warehouses which
would buy and store the surplus in the
years of abundant harvest. distributing
such surplus in the .'leaner'' years. thus
conserving the crop and establishing more
uniform prices both to the producer and
the consumer.
Crop conservation means using the crop.
getting it to the consumer at the lowest
prices consistent with q reasonable profit
on Its production and handling. 1t APP
pears that II is too often the practice of
some of our middlernen today. to con-
serve the crop by making the price so
high that the consumer cannot afford to
buy our farm products In such quantities
as they might and would like to consume.
This condition is not SO true regarding the
handling of our standard grains az with
other farm produce. but taking farm
products as a whole. the prices to the
consumer are apparently far too high and
have no direct relation to the purchase
price paid to the producer. For instance.
it appears from "a recent report of the
United States department of agriculture
that while the average purcha sing prices
of farm products We're ~ per cent less at
a certain date In 1918 than at the same
date in 1872. vet the average retail prices
to the consumer were practically the
same in 1913 as in 1912.
The Middleman's Toll.
Wheat appears te be a grain which is
handled by the middlcmen for a reason-
aule pfoIlt pun l am not aDle To under
stand why. when corn sells at 40 cents per
blshel. we must pay the grocerman %
cents for a O-pound sack of corn meal.
Or why rolled oats should retail at s and
Il cents per pound when the grain is only
worth 10 cents per bl,shel at the farm.
The farmer ma he careless. He may be
wasteful. but the high cost of living can
not after all all be laid at his door. The
unOrga nized and cumbersome methods of
distribution and the large and often ex-
orb.tant toll required by the midd.ermen
are in my Judgment the immediate cause
of the too high prices which the consumer
pays. and often perhaps. of the too low
prices which the producer receives.
agree with Secretary Houston that the
questions of marketing and distributing
and living are fully as important as the
question of production. and these ql,es-
tons require careful investigation and the
present methods should receive Such re-
organization and correction by law or 9TH
erwise as will give us all a square deal.
l believe that the Western Grain Deale4x'
association wants n square deal in this
matter and that YOU gentlemen will study
this question and improve and correct
your methods as far as possible in order
that our farm products may reach the
consumer in good condition and at a fair
price which will not limit the natural con-
sumption of such products by the CONSUME
ing classes. The complete conservation of
the crop is attained only when il is fully
utilized without Unnecessary waste or
unnecessary cost to the consumer.
Oxygen and Breathing.
S.-LA - 90.