The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-12-16
WHY THE STOCK RAISER
IS MAKING NO MONEY
SITUATION is ILLUSTRATED BY
MARKETING AN OREGON
"cANNER" COW.

The American. published at Crane
Ore. "the only railroad town in Har-
ney county" has the following story
based on the experience of local
stock raiser in disposing of carload
of cattle in the Portland market. 1t
shows first how the stockman has
been made the goat by the packers,
and on the other hand showing how
these same packers exact an inordin-
ate profit from the public for meat
products The American says:
Cattle Disappear From Harvey Hills
Ten years ago the hills and valleys
Of Harvey county were dotted with
herds of grazing cattle and stockmen
were well to do and were happy. To
day the stock raiser is practically
bankrupt and only small punches of
cattle are found now and then.
We think we have found the cause
for this state of affairs i'm the expert
ence of j. c. Vickers. who shipped a
carload of cattle from Crane to the
Portland market about 10 days ago,
and received his returns the first Of
the week In this shipment of stock
was a COW which weighed $50 pounds
when sold on the market The COW
brought Mr. Vickers s176O. out of
which he paid the freight and feed
ing charges at Pendeton. This COW
was old and known on the market as
Gamer" That is. she is not
slaughtered and sold over the block.
but the meat is used in making such
products as corned beef canned roast
beef. and dried beef just to see what
the consumer paid for the meat that
brought Mr. Vickers . cents a pound,
we made inquiry at the local stores
and found the following prices preva-
lent
What Public Pays for Cow.
One-half pound net canned corned
beef. 80 cents 12-oz. can of roast
beef 40 cents; Sa on can of dried
beef 80 cents So when YOU buy a
half-pound can of corned beef, or a
12-oz. can Of roast beef you are pay
ing at the rate of 60 cents a pound for
meat that cost the packer . cents per
pound Dried beef cost You at the
rate of s1.s5 per pound Tt is now
plainly understood why the Harvey
county stock grower is bankrupt
while the big packers are millionaires.
Swifts' Small Profit.
During the past year Swift & Co.
have spent thousands of dollars ad-
vertsing in the newspapers showing
figures and statistics to prove that
the company makes less than = cent
profit on each pound of meat they sell.
page ad in a newspaper can not
convince ms that the packer. who
bought and canned Mr.. Vickers' COW
did not get more than y cent profit
of the difference between , cents and
si.S5 that you paid when You bought
the pound of dried beef To he sure,
the whole carcass of the COW did not
make dried or corned beef but to
anyone familiar with the operation Of
a modern packing plant it is known
that not single pound of the $50 that
this COW weighed but what was used
in some manner by the packer. for
every part of an animal now is used,
and there are hundreds OF products
turned out by a packing plant be
sides the edible meat
Nothing Lost.
The hide is made into leather the
hair is used in plaster, the horns and
hoofs are made into glue. the bones
are made into buttons and animal
charcoal; more than a hundred medi-
cines are made from different glands
and parts Of the cow. as pepsin. pan
creatin. beef extract glycerine vac
cine. etc, and as has been stated be
fore not pound is wasted for after
everything else has been worked over
into a salable product the remainder is
dried out and ground to a fine powder
dried again. sacked and sold as blood
meal. stock tonic and animal fertiliz-
er lat many times the original 2-cent
price that was paid for this COW.
The whole trouble is Mr.. Vickers
did not get his share of the value of
the animal, nor for the other % head
of cows for which he received So
cents a pound on the Portland mar
ket. And as long as this state of af-
fairs exists the stockman who con-
tinues to raise beef will continue on
the edge of bankruptcy or win have
to quit his old occupation of stock
raising. Prices of beef and beef pro-
ducts are high enough, but the price
paid for beef animals is too low in
proportion.