Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1920-06-09
N. D. FARMERS HAD NO RELIEF
UNTIL THEY UNITED
DR.. E. F. Ladd of the N. D. State
University Issues State

For more than quarter or cen
fury the farmers Of North Dakota have
insure for them better marketing con-
| litions for wheat. They have repeated
! " asked for terminal elevators for a
! better system Of grading and weighing
grain, but until they organized in 1915
for their own protection they secured
no LEGISLATION OF any material beneht to
| them - said DR.. F.. +. Ladd, Republican
candidate for United States senator. in
a statement issued Saturday.
"l5etore | came to the state, SO years
ago this summer the elevator managers
had Disseminated regularly against
lIuestem as being inferior for flour pro-
uuction TO that Of Fife, and they paid,
therefore. a less price for it. Every
| little thing brought down the grade of
wheat; consequently, the price paid to
the farmer was lowered. Slightly FROST
ed wheat. slightly Sunburned, sun scald-
ed from dampnesS, or wheat dlscolored
wheat slightly shriveled from any cause
lowered the grade and the price to the
farmer, but not one of these conditions
as named lessened one whit the flour
and bread producing quality of the
wheat.
"ror years the Agricultural college
| worked alonS the line of securing just
prices for the farmer for grain that was
in no way injured for flour or bread
production. lower prices for which help
ed the miller and the grain gambler to
the detriment alike Of the farmer and
the consumer. The college found. also,
that flax slightly frosted, shriveled,
shrunken. discolored, or in any way ef-
fected was cut down in it's selling price
because it was claimed to produce less
oil and an inferior oil that would not be
satisfactory for use in paint manufac-
ture. This we soon found was rank
injustice and it was demonstrated that
this so-called DAMAGED flax contained
often really more Oil that plump flax
and that it's drying duality in paint Was
not lessened and no one was ever
caught selling any oil at a lower price
because it had been produced from this
so-called damaged flax.
Flax Not Damaged
"\s a matter Of fact, it was not dam
aged or any less valuable for paint use
Thru publicity this discrimination was
broken up, to the benefit of the farmer
and North Dakota, the largest producer
OF flax benefited thereby.
THE buyer also forced down the price
of Durum wheat by - to II cents per
bushel at time when wheat was selling
for less than 81 per bushel. The little
mill at the Agricultural college all this
time was telling different story, but in
the meantime the farmers were defraud
ell out of millions of dollars while the
consumer saved little or nothing.
when the war came on and the fed
eral government took over the handling
Of wheat. they recognized no difference
in value for Durum as compared with
other spring wheats ana there never has
| been the necessity for a spread to eN-
coed. at any time cents per bushel.
Velvet Chaff WeiShing c. to 6 pounds
per bushcl was locked cents per BUSH
Ell at the farmers markets; but at the
terminal. in the hands of food gamblers
q nj
Commerce one bushel of Velvet Chaff
was mixed with two bushels of No. .
and No. Hard Spring Wheat-lo and
hthold-came out as three bushels Of
No. l Northern. This practice made a
fortune for the gambler in foods pos
ing as a necessary middleman and sup
ported by the consumer and the farmer.
More Middlemen
Here it may be said that the Secre-
tary Of agriculture is reported to have
recently said: 1t now takes six men
to handle the products of four produce
| reversed. Is it any wonder then, that
the farmer receives less, while also the
consumer pays higher for the essential
farm products than any of the European
| countries. Who is to blame for this
condition.? Our system of transporta-
ton and marketing. No less an auth
GRITTY than Governor Herrick of Ohio,
former ambassador to France, says that
the United States has the most expen-
slVe food distribution system the world
has ever known Is it any wonder. then,
that there is unrest and that the far
mers find the cost for food production
greater than their returns?
The commi SsiOner of agriculture for
Kansas has Just completed a study Of
the cost of producing winter wheat in
Kansas for 1919, and this, including a
study with 2,057 Kansas wheat growers
in every part Of the state and the aver
age cost for the entire state for pro-
durlnS wheat per acre, was $500. Would
the farmers get rich on this showing?
Not at all. On IS per cent of the acre
age there was loss: while on - per
cent OF the acreage there was found a
profit. but taken a whole for the en-
| tire state the loss averayed AZ cents per
acre; and yet we are told that the far
mer is protiteer and holshevik
No Pay for Fertility Loss
But the FOREGOING does not tell all of
the story Tor in the great wheat belt of
Kansas. the central portion of the state
the average loss per acre was 1852, and
there was no charge made for fertility
removed. nothing allowed the farmer
Tor overtime work during the busy sea-
son nor for loss thru the seasonal ma
ture OF his vocation. The farmer was
allowed. as manaSer. $50 per day tor
81 days, while he paid his help an av-
eTaSe OF 800 per month with board; and
yet. the farmer is abused because he
Will not continue to grow wheat at a
loss to feed the cities who are crying
for cheap bread. Where is there an
other business manager who would
work 81 days during the busy season for
$50 per day and be forced to remain
idle for considerable portion of the
| long winter months?
1T costs more to grow spring wheat
in North Dakota than it does for win
ter wheat in Kansas and unless the far
mer's services are better appreciate ed
someone will so hungry in the near fu-
ture.
But I have distressed from my sub
]ect. For 80 years I have tried to be Of
service to the people of North Dakota.
and to help the farmer and enable him
! to secure better prices for his grain In
| the early days the interests pointed
| out that Ladd's' findings were all theory
and that theory and practice do not jibe'
and so in a large measure they were
| able to discredit the work. Then we put
| IN the now famous little mill at the
| Agricultural college. and thus far they
| have not been able to point out where
| the nndlncs were at fault. for theory
| ana practice We're alike in their con-
| cluslons. and so the milling trade and