Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1921-10-28
Problem of Transportation Be-
tween Upper Wisconsin and
Southern Sections COmpli-
Gates the Question

been asked is one sent in by reader
living in Itusk county. He has thou
sands of cords OF hard maple wood
that will go to waste unless some ex-
change market can be found through
farmers or farmers cooperative COM
panieS in southern and central cOun-
ties who may desire to work up some
thing on the exchange basis. In his
letter the writer says:
i find You are doing all you can to
bring producer and consumer tOgpt;-
er, and we are readers and believers
i'm The Wisconsin Farmer Three %:
four of us up here would be able 10
apiece and trade it for oats or corn
which we are obliged to pay very high
prices for. We could pay freight for
! the grain and let the parties pay
freight for the wood We are i'm Il
position to furnish this wood before
cold weather. and we believe we could
afford to load it on the cars for 50 a
cord of fOur-fOOt lengths. or perhaps
trifle less We are Il miles from
LadySmith. but have no place to store
the wood and no time to wait for the
trade that buys in small lots at low
prices. It does not pay up here at pres
ent to sell wood and buy grain. May
we sec our problem in print in your
valuable paper?
| BY careful checking we find that ap-
proximatcly 3.S carloads of cord wood
laid down will equal The value of one
average minimum carload of 1890
bushels of bulk oats This is deter
mined as follows:
Take cOrdwOod first The rate
on fuel wood from Ladysmth TO Wan
kcsha ON the 500 railroad is nine cents
hundred. and we will accept their
price of 50 a cord. This gives a total
of 81 cents a hundred for the cord
wood laid down at Waukesha, figuring
1000 pounds to the cord at 50 Il cord
plus the freight charge per pound.
Now take the bulk oats. figuring il
81 pounds to the bushel and 3S cents
bushel for the price. Adding the
freight toll, which is u cents hun
dred from Waukesha to Ladysmith.
we find the total offset charge for the
oats laid down at Ladysmith is S1.:'9
a hundred.
Thus we match the two unlike COM
mOdities on common weight basis
namely, 81 cents is to S1.39 as | is 20
"A. which is the true ratio of value
after all freight rates and normal cash
values are included. Suppose now
that carload of bulk oats holds / 800
bushels. which is the minimum weight
that the 500 Line allows on such q
car with 10000 pounds capacity. That
would make a weight Of $4,000 pounds
i'm a car of oats, or $50 hundred-Wcight
Using our ratio of A, we see that $50
hundredweight of oats at the given
price and freight charge will be equal
to Zip hundredweight Of cordWoo l.
We also figure a minimum carload OF
cOrdwO0d allowing 1000 pounds 10
the cord and $4,000 pounds minimum on
car of 10000 pounds capacity. This
would be IA cords to the car, each cord
weighing 40 hundredWeight on J60
hundredweight in the car. Then our
Zip hmdredweight of cOrdwOOd is
divided by $50, which gives the final
answers cars equal to one minimum
car Of 800 bushels of oats. There
would be no exchange of money, but
simply the payment of the freight
rates by the parties to the trade.
EHl 10
number of cords needed in trading
minimum loads to offset the grain. At
3S cents a bushel for oats and min"
cents Il hundred for freight, the oats
would cost .028 cents Il hushel freight
charge and IS cents a bnShel in value.
This is about 40 cents offset per buslrl
for the oats. The c0rdw0Od would
cost $500 cord for freight and he
worth 50 cord, making an offset Of
! $12.G0 per cord, laid down. This would
mean that it would take 81 bushels Of
oats delivered TO equal the value OF
one cord Of wood delivered. The 1900
bushels of oats then would require
the exchange of about 40 cords OF wood
10 make things even. AS noted before,
one can load from ii to 16 cords easily
in a box car, and more than that on n
large fiat car. This is probably the
better way to arrive at an estimate
than to figure it by carloads as be
fore.
AS to the SOumdncSS of trying any
plan Of this sort, it would seem that
railroad rates again operate to defeat
the purpose of those who would barter
goods and pay freight as the only cash
expense. Here the middleman that
stops the deal is the railroads. Lower
rates might allow the deal TO he put
through to the interest of both par
ties, but ii would seem that such q
plan is useless now.
For instance, the 40 cords of WOOD
at The home value Of 50 cord would
he worth Sal. and adding the freight
which the I.adysmith man must pay
on the grain he gets, the total wolllC
be $541.S0. This Is what it wouIf
cost him for 1000 bushels of Waukesha
oats The bushel price at this att
would be &c cents. Now the Waukesh.
man who gets the cOrdwoOd must fig
Iii tet nf NJ