Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-04-20
DEALERS ASSERT
MAKE LESS THAN
AT LOWER PRICES
importers Say That Coast Ad.
vances With Freight Added
Leave Them Narrower Mar
uins of Profit Than Before

Honolulu have increased In some In
stances nearly cne-thfrd since war
was declared April 8.
Honolulu Wholesale dealers are to
day compelled to pay more for grain
hay and feed 4. o. %. San Francisco
than they sold them here for 80 days
ago. .- -
Local supplies of feed, grain and
hay are short, buyers not realizing {
few months ago that wholesale prices
would 20 as high as they have.
Last years hay crop was small In
California and from present indica
tIcns viii be no better this summer.
These are the principal facts ascer
tanned today by the Star-Bulletin az
the result OF visits to the biggest
wholesale grain, hay and feed firms Ii
Honolulu. Local dealers claim they
are not profiting By the tremendous in
creases and that they are not making
as much on sales as before.
longley Quotes Prices
From Supt. A. 7. Longley OF the
territorial marketing division the fol
lowing wholesale prices charged today
on feeds we're obtained:
Small yellow corn, 1880 to $74 Q
;an. Two weeks ago today the price
was from $50 to s5S. A year ago, $S5,
Scratch feed, two weeks ago, $67 6
ton; today, $50.
Wheat, two weeks ago. sG9; today.
$50.
a These quotations are obtained from
local wholesale firms for the In
formation ot fsnohefs. They are ISSUED.
weekly. Retail rrices average Is PEI
cent higher, I.ongIey estimates.
On stock feeds. Longley's figures
today are:
Bran, was $40 two weeks sReo. today
$3.50: barley, was $751; today s64SQ
oats was s54, today }e5 ton; mid
dlings} WIS SIS two weeks ago. today
s65. island rice bran has jumped $1t
a ton. II was $50 normally, but toda,
is $50 ton.
no Island Corn Now
There is no island corn now in the
market, Supt Longley says, None Of
the other stock feeds are grown here
except rice bran. Longley thinks the
increases due largely to the war. This
Is not the season for ndsgrown
corn. The last crop is all sold AND
the new will not be In until July.
Wheat hay, Longley reports. has
not risen correspondingly In the iasi
two weeks. II Is quoted wholesale
today at sS9G45 a ten, and alfalfa
from s39@42. II was $50 two weeks
ago. This Is far above normal, how
ever.
That the advances are partly due &c
the war and partly to the enormous
shortage in hay. grain and feedstufis
IN California, was stated this morning
by F. w. MacfarIane, president OF the
Union Feed Company. Ltd.
MacfarIane said that because OF 70
days unparalleled prices the consump
ton OF feedstuffs Is less, and that his
firm is doing all in its power so to
conserve its limited stocks as to take
care Of its regular customers.
Mo Stocks Laid IN
with Us II Is not 50 much matter
of price as the efforts We are nov
making to provide for future deliver
ies,- be said. He said frankly thai
the uniCn Feed Company has not laid
in stocks beyond normal requirements
because il does not anticipate that the
present high i.rices will last beyond
he harvest Of the new crops in Aug
ust and September,
Macfariane praised the work OF
Manager A. w. Cater OF the Parker
Ranch ON Hawaii, who has, he said,
been able 70 PUT on the local market
corn grown on his ranch. OF better
quality than the California product,
and at a lower price than corn I'M
orted from the mainland.
In a nutshell, Maefarlane says, the
present unparalleled prices are due TO
the war. TO the lack Of carry over
ar crops from the preceding year ana
TO short crops coming this summer
With large crops Of grain and hay q.
fair percentage is usually carried over
Iy the growers. Last years crops
we're short. there Is now no carry
ever" to help out, and the coming
crops are likely to be short again THIS
year, reports from California indicate.
Tells Of Coast Prices
A letter dated April II, received by
The Union Feed Company this week
from its San Francisco agency.
graphically describes the California
hay shortage. which is worse in pro
portion than that in grain and other
feedstuffs, as follows:
with hay quoted at $3S ton
wholesale, costing the consumer $35
and promising to reach $40 within a
shcrt time. stock raisers and dairy
men are facing the alternative OF kill
ing their stock or watching them
slowly starve.
The hay shortage has become serf
Gus. The 1916 crop was a million
tons below the 100000 ton figures
reached in California in 1915. January
OF this year was raw and cold with
little rain. Pasture which would or
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