The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1918-12-18
HONEY PROFITOERING

HONEY PROFIT0ERING
A short time ago we called attention
editorially to the fact that the busy
little bee" was a profiteer and was
taking advantage of the war to make
fortune, or the bee is owned by a
profiteer. Substantiation of the charge
IS shown in market reports today. Honey
has been selling at retail at from 40
to SO cents pound and local dealer
says it is quoted by wholesalers at IS
cents a pound.
The South Idaho and Eastern Ore
gon Honey Producers Association held
MS annual meeting at Ontario, Oregon,
last week and reports of interest to CON
sumers of honey were read The larg-
est producers of honey in the two states
are E. F. Atwater & Co., of Meridian
Idaho, who produced 100000 pounds this
year and sold it for p IL cents. 9th
ers got from Is to 20 cents a pound for
their honey. These prices are reported
by the producers to be phenomena11y
high. The honey industry was well rep
resented at the meeting the members re-
ported having sold a total of $780,
1882 worth of honey for the season
On this they paid $17526o commission
for having it sold This shows that the
dealers charged the producers a COM
mission for selling their honey and
charged the consumers about 100 per
cent profit
Today's market reports from Spokane
contain the following very significant
and convincing evidence that dealers
have been profiteering in honey The
report follows:
The price of honey is expected to
tumble most any day, in fact, wholesale |
dealers are. said to be offering a cut on
quotations within the last day or two
A Coast report states that dealers who
had laid large stock anticipating a big
demand for honey as a sugar substitute
are now satisfied to give the big profits
of which they had visions, and are at
tempting to move stocks at a figure
which will give them their money back
So far, the local retail price has not been
affected"
There is certainly evidence enough to
convict some one of profiteering Just
as the manufacturers of wheat flour sub
stitues profifeered during the entire
period when those substitutes were used
Taking the ban off of sugar is what has
thrown CONSERVATION in the ranks of the
honey and syrup profiteers just as taking
the ban off of wheat flour left the sub
stitute profiteers with large stocks of
unstable goods on hand
- "a "a
RAISING SUGAR BETS HERE
Dean E. J. Iddings of the agricultural
college. thinks taht the agitation to
aIse sugar beets in Latah county in
my large quantities would not prove
and that corn peas and other
rops could be raised here more profit
bly,, but he thinks that sugar beets can
e grown at a profit in small way and :
hat every farmer can raise a few acres
f them for stock feed and make the
enture pay, while the results in next
ears crop of wheat or other grain
ould be very satisfactory 8
The Star-Mirror did not mean to
1vocate the raising of sugar beets here ~
4 4 large scale or for commercial ~
Irposes.- Beets cannot be grown here ~
competition with the irrigated dis "a
lcts, where as high as AZ tons per acre ~
ere grown this year, nor will it pay this ~
ction of the country to raise sugar
cts extensively. That was not the
"a of the suggestion in the newspapers
Re raising of few acres of beets,
y acres of carrots, which are about
: best stock feed grown, being excel ~
It for horses, cattle and hogs, but r.
not yield as many tons per acre III
beets, a few acres of corn and a few ~
res of other crops intead of raising "a
hing on large acreage of the La
county farms, is what the press of "A
) section is advocating.
Dur land is too valuable to permit n
+ or one-third of it to lie idle every
r. The same amount of cultivation
ded to keep it clean and conserve the
isttlre would raise good yield of
cral different kinds of crops. 1t is
poor business for the farmer to per-
his land to lie idle one-third or