Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-08-07
THAT FFTY-FIVE MILLION

of which the elevator companies and other nefarious peo-
pie robbed the farmers Of North. Dakota annually is re-
vived in one of the articles by Mr.. Maxwell on the Non
partisan league. The story has become a classic and, like
many other classics, it has been accepted by many people
who have paid no attention to its origin.
Inasmuch as in only one year did North Dakota pro-
duce as much as 1900 900 bushels Of wheat, and that
for several previous years the crop had fuctuated be-
tween 70, 900, 900 and 100, 900, 900 bushels, it required some
expert figuring to reach the conclusion that the farmers
were losing s55, ooo,o 900 annually on the dockage of their
wheat, but the expert figurers were there, and the con-
clusion was reached. Some conception of the magnitude
of the task may be gained when we consider that in some
Of the years covered by the estimates, the total wheat
ia pound Of dockage. If paid for at the top market price
for No. 1 Northern wheat, would not have yielded $685.
900, 900 all told.
To reach the total some ingenuity was necessary, but
our estimators are nothing, If not ingenious. They figured
all the. dockage. and all the freight paid for its transpor-
tation. They figured that had it been kept at home it
would have been worth so much a pound for feed. They
calculated that it would have fed so nhny thousand head
Of cattle, which would have been worth so very much if
sold at the current rates. And, by making a desperate
effort, they were able to bring the figures up to a total
of a little eyer $40, 600. But, resourceful though they
were. the estimators were guilty Of an astonishing over
sight. They calculated the value of the cattle which
might have been kept on all this dockage without refer
ence to labor or other costs, and at the top market prices,
it is true. But they overlooked the price of beefsteak. A
fair steer will dress perhaps 500 pounds. Beefsteak, IN
even a moderate price restaurant, when accompanied by
mushroom gravy and things of that sort, retails at more
than a dollar a pound, and mushrooms. as everyone
knows, grow wild, and are to be had for the picking by
anyone who knows where to find them. And 600 pounds
of beef at a dollar a pound makes $500. If these rg-
ures had been used the total would have been several
million dollars greater The suggestion that a steer is
not all steak could have been rejected on the ground that
somebody is always trying to take the joy out Of life.
However, while the matter Of steak was overlooked,
the matter Of manure was not. The experts wanted a few
more millions, and found them in the manure pile, we
suspect that they had been readers Of Mark Twain, and
had been impressed by the writer's description Of his
discovery that in the Black Forest of Germany, the wealth
Of an inhabitant was gagged, not by his houses and lands,
his flocks and his herds, but by the size of the pile Of
manure which he had accumulated on his premises. 1t
was estimated that all the cattle which could, have been
maintained on the stolen dockage would have produced
a vast quantity Of manure, and by careful analysis and
close figuring the value OF this manure which was not
produced was placed at a little over $40. 0oo. 900. That
was certainly some stroke OF figuring.
When we remember that this amount would mean
~that>on the average farm in North Dakota enough cattle
could be kept on the dockages from the wheat raised on
of $3.50, it will be a matter Of surprise that our Farmers
devoted themselves exclusively to the production Of dock
manure. This golden opportunity has been overlooked.