Imperial Valley press., 1922-02-02
WEEKLY REVIEW OF
HAY MARKET

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2.-Business
in alfalfa hay was active during the
week and unusually large in volume
for this time of the year& this is un-
doubtedly the result of the unusually
small stocks in the hands Of the trade
and Of the users. In Los Angeles the
receipts by rail Of alfalfa and grai,,
hay were over 220 cars, of which
much the larger part was alfalfa;
during the preceding week receipts
there were not much smaller, but i?
both weeks they were promptly ab-
sorbed, evidently almost altogether
| by the current consumption, since
there is no noticeable incre ase in the
stocks mentioned.
The present situation brings oc
once more the fact, sometimes dem
onstrated on very large scale in the
markets for food and fed g stalls
that just as buyers can hot! OF ny
| ing for a very much Ion . ,as
than is theoretically considel el Lossi
BILE, just so will the demand newt
ably be surprisingly large ard long
sustained after the Stocks have fin
ally been worked down to real bed
rock all along the line of dealers and
consumers.
Prices showed no material change
during the week. We have now had
a pretty well stabilized market for
alfalfa hay since a number of months
and while the average prices for the
year were Of course not reinunera,
tive to the grower, this average was
improved during these months, and in
any case prices were considerably
better than they would have heen
without the stabilizing efforts Of the
association. Dealers and consumers
are without doubt equally benefited
by this stability Of the market. This
experience has demonstrated to the
dealers during these months that
they are better off by helping main
tain steady market and thereby
giving confidence to consumers and
thus making sure of steady demand
and regular business at prices WHICH
leave them q legitimate profit on
what they handle, than to have an er-
ratio and demoralized marke5, with
business in fits and starts, which
would have been the only other choice,
especially under present general c'n
ditions. Such market would have
been bound to be too vacillating and
without maintaining any tendency
long enough to serve as a guide to
anybody i'll his operations; dealers
and users would have been whipsawed
at every turn, not to mention that ts.l
legitimate margin of profit to which
dealers are entitled would only have
existed for them in theory; their bus.
mess would have been gamble with
the odds overwhelmingly agains;
them as distributors entitled to &
fair compensation FOR their work ARC
investment.
Users also have been benefited I
. an equal extent by the stability, g
they need stable market fully a.
much as the growers; it not alon'
protects them in their purchases bu
also works for stability in the prio,
and market for their products.
We are encouraged by finding tina
quite a number OF leading dealers ant
users have come around TO thes
same views and are now operating II
| support of them. -
If further proof were needed O
cur efforts being made in the righ
direction, it is given by contrast il
the form Of a report just receives
from Wyoming. Shipments of alfalf
hay made from there to Kansas Cit.
sold at $14.00 per ton; the freigh
was $11.0O per ton; even if there ha,
been no other expenses the net re
turns would therefore not even b
sufficient to pay for the baling! Tn
experience Of South Dakota, Mime
sofa, etc. alfalfa growers has beel
quite similar, and this notwithstand
ing the fact that the hay crop Of tn
country was not large one las
year. Can you figure out how sucl
ruinously low prices can possibly b.
of real benefit to anybody? On II,
contrary, are they not bound to b,
harmful all around in their final eff
feet?
The important event Of last weel
vas the farm problem conference i,
| Washington. 1t was like a consulta
ton of doctors and, We fear. mad'
the case one OF too many doctors ant
opinions. On one uoint however the.
all agreed, they all We're convinced
that the patient, the American farm
er, is very sick man.
AS far as we can make out from
-eports in the newspapers, there wer,
however no real remedies suggest2(.
The doctors present all recommended
only either tonics to build up tn,
strength of the patient, or else med
icines and hypodermic injections t.
temporarily give him partial reliet