Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 15, 1925, Page 31

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1925 Che Casper Daily Cribune AGE FIVE WOOL SITUATION TODAY IS THE BEST IN MANY YEARS OST OF 1998 BLIP 1S SOLD Continued Good Prices for Lambs Is Also in Prospect By J. A. HILL Wool Specialist, University of Wyoming. Probably the wool growers of Wyoming never entered a year with better prospects for continued high prices for wool and lambs than this year, 1925. Ageording to the best opinion, be-| pfeen two thirds and three fourths of the 1925 clip in Wyoming and the surrounding states has already heen contracted at prices that were satisfactory to the growers, at least at the time when they signed the| agreements to sell their wool. [peealers who hold the contracts will Hao all in thelr power to keep prices eep until after shearing. Conse quently, there is no danger of a panic at shearing time, such as occurred last year with an average} loss of five cents a pound to the growers in Wyoming. ‘The dealers! who own three fourths and the growers who are still hanging onto the remaining one fourth of the clip in the range states will all be on the same side of the market until sometime next fall. That is the situation today, with the published quotations on terrl- tory wool in Boston such that prac- teally all Wyoming woo! of staple length and graded quarter blood or Aner could be sold in Boston so as to net Wyoming growers 47 to 60 cents on the range and still leave a profit for the middleman who handles it. Although the wool merchant and the wool grower will be on the same\ side of the market to an unusual extent during the next eix months, they are not going to be able to ad- yance prices, or even to hold them at the present level, without plenty of opposition on the part of the manufacturers who are backed up "by the great consuming public. The experiences of last year in United States, while not as disastrous as those of 1920, showed that the bright prospects of Jan- uary may lead to a condition far from bright at shearing time in June. In 1923 the United States had con sumed about 700,000,000 pounds of wool. At the end of the year the mills were still operating and it looked as if business would be good. ‘The total annual production of the United States was only about one Loading Wool | third of this. On January 1, 1924, the total supply of unzold wool on hand, that is, wool outside of the mills, was, according to the census of the Boston Wool Trade assocla- tion, 117,000,000 pounds or barely “wo months’ supply at the rate wool Jad been consumed during the pre yious two years. There was a duty thirty-one cents a clean pound wool similar to that grown in United States imported from sbroad, and price the forelgn were te ard with less than wool cost with the duty Certainly the beginning of Nip year 1924 did not have a bad outlook. Then all of a sudden the bottom dropped out of things, The mills uld not get orders and worked at s8 than half normal capacity. Large quantities of forelgn wool Wiad been rushed aftef the first of the year in and held in bond wait- ing for a boom market. Some of the speculators who held this got hinto financial difficulties and had to junio: Prices abroad continued to vemain firm with some general up: ward tendency, although there were | temporary fluctuations. Bverything might ha quite well with ppening ofthe ye tained had the on lo wool gone on the prices at the r fairly well main growers been able organize so as to contro] the But they had fresh tn mind that distressing year of 1920 when wool declined so rapidly. Bankers in Wyoming and other n states needed the money they needed it In cash in the} rather than as an equity in held in Boston. So there was b general urge throughout the west ern country to sell. Prices went Yown steadily in the west and the Toston prices followed them. The fecline lasted on some grades of wool until the tariff was practically non-effective. growers who saw the situa- lized that it took more than wo men to make @ Market. | ers appeared to think the | Lveryone realized that wool situation. ank The}: |dent !n congress who would favor was statistically sound, yet no prices could be maintained when everyone in the Wnited States wanted to sell and no wanted to buy. There was| ahead with the outlook | ther favorable for a prest- free wool, in principle at least. When prices began to get to the lowest point, some of the more cour agevus dealers bought heavily. This | began to turn the tide. During the advance which has.taken place since | then, those who bought heav! have no doubt reaped-a reward fo: their courage and foresight. The wool was now in tho hands of the dealers; and the manufactur ing business began to pick up. Manufacturers saw that election was going to go the way they want-| ed it to. They realized that their | mill lofts were bare of wool and} | they started out to buy. The dealers also awoke to the situation and be gan to put up prices, although many | of them sold wool much cheaper than they haye been able to replace it since. ‘Territory wool advanced flve cents a pound, average grease price, in a very few weeks. Had one | man or @ small group of men con-| ‘olled the clip of the United States, and had seen the situation as clearly advisers did, wool would have sold! at least five cents a pound higher), throughout the shearing season, The disastrous situation of 1920 may be summarized by the following phrases: <A large visible surplus in the hands of the British govern ment; post-war deflation and busi ness depression; a refusal on the part of the consumers to buy, even when they had plenty of money, The situation at the beginning of this year, 1925, seems to differ essen. tially from both the two previous | years, 1920 and 1923, when a good | beginning was followed by bad times, at least during a part of the year. The stock of wool in the hands of dealers in Boston January 1, 1925, was only 66,000,000 pounds. }On January 1, 1924, there was 117 000,000 pounds in the hands of the| dealers. The stock on hand at the beginning of this year !s the small est that has been reported since 1916. Anyone who knows the way wool has been scraped out of the corners in the producing states wiil| know that there is less wool In the hands of the growers on the ranches and farms than there was u year!/ ago. There was only 37,000,000 pounds of domestic wool reported | unsold on January 1, 1925, as com pared with 83,000,000 the year pre vious. During the first eleven months of 1924, the mills reporting to the gov ernment on consumption had used 487,000,000 pounds of wool, This t# about 110,000,000 pounds less than consumed during the eame period | in 1923. Some yery important mil do not report their consumption 60 that it s safe to say that in the worst year for the mills known in recent years, 600,000,000 pounds of | wool were consumed, That is at the rate of 60,000,000 pounds pe: month. Therefore, the stock of wool on hand outside the mills on January 1 was but little more than | enough to keep the mills operating | two months on the average basis of | 1924. On the same basis, if the mills were run on domestic wool alone the stocks in the hands of the dealers would not keep them operating one month. This seems to.indicate thit if the mills get anything near tt {normal amount of orders for ti next six months, they will have t continue importing large quantitics from abroad. This will keep th price up by making the tariff effec: | tive in this and will stimulate foreign markets which have shown some tendency to de cline in January for lack of Amor!l- can support. In 1920 the crash was precipitated bythe sudden discoverey of large stocks of wool. Stocks of wool in the world at the present time are pretty well known. Wool has been selling in Australia as fast as jt has been grown. The sheep pop fon of the world has not been keeping country aleo | overthrowing |lutely as many of the growers und their} Sheep Grazing on Rich Mountain Grasses | | \Th jing at a | sumir | ures of the wool manufactured in Japan is used in Japan. Therefore, it seems impossiblo that a large price} depressing surplus of wool will sud. denly be discovered in 1920. Just at present it seems that ther are only about three things that ¢ do serious damage to the Americ woo] market during 1925. One is an of the financial sta bility of Burope which will close the mills and cause a pante stricken sell ing of wool. No one can be abso sure what is ahead in that respect. However, sterling exchange has advanced so rapidiy in tt few months that it seems t bankers at last believe that Britain has become stabilized. Secondly American consumers may absolutely refi buy goods priced on the basis*at the present cost of ray materials. There does dt séem to be as much danger of this as in 1920. ‘The consuming public has gradually become adjust- ed to present+costs and are buying woolen goods as steadily as general business conditions permit. Finally the market in the United States might be depressed by tinker- ing with the tariff. However, there does not seem to be much immediate danger. ‘Therefore, all {11 all, it looks as if there is a good year ahead for wool. This means a good year ahead for the state of Wyoming, ‘The estl mated production of wool in Wyo- ming in 1923 was 19,300,000 pounds, according to the final figures of the United States department of agri- culture, don the increase in sheep in the wool clip in creased, pe 000,000 pounds, although the final figures of the government are not out. It fs to be expected that the number of sheep in Wyoming will incre: fairly rapidly within the next few years. But increasing the flocks on the range is a Blow pro these days when all the wether lambs are sold as, compared with the early days when wethers were kept until five or six years The United States, as a whole, sing its sheep very slow will be many years in the future, if the time ever comes, when the United States is producing more than two thirds of thé wool consumed within its borders. This means that a pro: tective tariff can be made *effective 43 a general proposition as long as the wool growing interests can keep one on the statute bogks. Yes, the year 1926 looks favorable for Wyo ming and her sheepmen. This survey should not be closed without a word of caution. On ac count of the good statistical outlook for wool, as well us the present high prices, and owing to the continued depression of the cattle industry eattlemen and small farmers are b ing urged by gratuitous advisers 1 | and financial backers to go into the sheep business s sible. There should be no grand rush {n this direction, It is a sound business to go slowly and cautious ly, not that there is danger that all the sheep that can be put on the Wyoming farms and ranches will depress the price of wool to any great extent, or that the number of sheep in the world can be increase rapidly enough to cuuse prices to go down very sharply in the next year or two, ven if they did gv down some they would probably still be above the avers of other prices. Boston statisticians have shown that with the price of wo and twenty other commodities 1921 taken as one hundred that the present average price of th ommidities is still ¢ one hundred while the relative of wool is two hundred and fifty The danger comes from twe sources rather than from over production. Iirst, men who go. into the sheep business on a large scale before they know much about it will euffer heavy losses through the use of bad methods. Sheep will be put into regions unsuited for them and will be run at a very heavy expense for winter feeding. But the worst danger apidly pos twent is over. pace with the wool using population. | Japan {s beginning to be o large] factor {n the Australian wool mur- | kets, and an Increasing proportion speculation. ‘There are a lmited number of » available in the United States at the present time If everyone wants to increase his holdings so that there are only half sl Another Flock on the Range enough sheep to fill the demands, | prices may be based on a fictitious | | valuation. Bye and bye the price | has pyramided until at has to come} tho neg ralsir | down ulned with a c financially h; everybody nd the pric is of} their real value. | | mak: | breeding ewes drops away below! ment WENTY-FOUR THOUSAND BEEVES4ND PORKERS BUTCHERED DURING EAR BY CASPER PACKING COMPAVY, CASPER MARKET Io GROWING ree Hundred Thous- and Dollars Paid Out For Hogs With the r the Casper P: ber of hogs killed by king company Increas- the city a place of major importance | Fig- | concern | and 16,006 butchered here 1924 and $300,000 paid out during the year for hogs alone. Manager Neith: per Packing Company, in discussing industry in Wyo- fu possibilities, teresting com rapid rate, is a in the meat packing indu: ssue the loc show that 9,000 cattle hogs that int about was numer of the Cas- and s the min, K ir “Wyoming being one of the larg: By ROY 0. WESTLEY, (Extension Specialist in Crops and Soils, University of Wyoming) Wyoming 1s increasing her ac} age devoted to feed crops, name: corn, barley, oats and hay, and 1s decreasing her acreage of wheat, rye and potatoes. This indicates a sane and understanding agricultural out- look for proper feed 1s essential to fit our livestock products for the market demands. The stage in Wyoming's agricul: tural theater has been and always will be set with a livestock back- ground. Many of the performers in this rural theater have been “‘live stock stars," and in tho future “stars from the animal world’ will be fea tured on various occasions. At the present time “crop stars” have been haying “long runs” before packed jouses, because our ranchers and farmers are becoming willing to pay the price to see whnt these ‘per formers from the plant kingdom’ INCREASED ACREAGE !N STATE BEING PLANTED TOFEED CROPS iCorn, Barley: Oats and Hay Pay | In Connection with Livestock In- | dustry; Corn New Favorite can do ment, however, is to combine two types of shows and offer a bij “double attraction,” crops and live stcck, for the next few years greatly reduced prices to the W: ming agricultural theater-oving pub) lic. It is unreasonable to assunge that ‘arge crowds, especially from out lying districts, will be attracted by a “glaring headline’ over the the ater door. The present-day public demands advertising, special write ups, posters, feature attractions, and a rather definite knowledge of the “type of show” they pay to see. And 80, ladies and gentlemen, we wish to present for your consideration some of the new and important attractions on Wyoming's agricultural program. “King Corn” Arrives. King Corn has come to Wyoming. A very few years ago it was thought that Wyoming would never be in- vaded by King Corn nor included in the Corn Kingdom, but now the “standing stalke” ore evidence In every lower altitude community of the king's invasion. In 1921 corn coy ered 000 acres in Wyoming but in 19 the invasion was extended over 165,000 acres, the greatest in creases occurring in 1923 and 1924 In spite of the fact that there was very lttle home grown seed corn, and that corn introduced from other states was not adopted to Wyoming condtilons, the demands made by has brought about the increa age. Aside from climatic cond! King has bee capp in appearing be | ming feeders because of that | tions, Corn re Wyoming-grown co h in feedl grown corn ments on the Tor station show that Wyoming corn is fully us good if not better than east ern corn. The cost of 100 pounds of gain In feeding hogs a ration of W: ming corn, tankage and alfalfa $1.42 cheaper than castern tankago and alfalfa. With the in creased production of corn within - own state the shipments of corn rom other states have decreased « is indk of the counties in. the Big Horn Ba n. In 1923 twenty cars of corn were shipped {nto that county, 1 three cars were shipped in and none have been bought this though feeding has not decreared | since 20 cars of dressed tu ye have | been marketed from the Bix Horn Basin country this fall. Corn is not a | “money crop” in Wyoming and per- | haps never will be, but with our al | falfa corn is the premier fattening | crop. The production of corn shouic increase at least at the point where our feeders may’ be supplied with ‘oming grown corn. Barley Adapted to Climate The one feeding fubstitute for} King Corn is Prince Barley. As “| fattening element in the ration bar ley has about 90 per cent the value of corn, and since our cool growing seasons are favorable for barley pro duction, the higher altitudes can produce this feed profitably, The acreage !n 1924 controlled by Prince Barley was 60 per cent more than e covered tr wo tf for any re lue 48 easte feeding experi corn season The polity of the manage- | the ' ated by the conditions in one | | the “Ilvestock fans" for corn to feed | a} rington experiment | | Dividends son King Corn cannot appear, Prince Barley is an efficient substitute. The acreage devoted to hay in Wyoming is gradually increasing and Queen Alfalfa is by far the most valuable single crop produced in the state. All of our native and wild bays are high tn feeding value as compared with eastern and low altitude hay according to chemical analysis and feeding tests. ‘The in: teresting thing about our program ts that Queen Atfalfa and her assist- ants, Native Hay and Wild Hal, | which The Octet From Berkshire Diversified Farming Is Made Possible For Large Region sifable in that respect, as tt nish the farmer with « }| times when there 1 be sold off the farm. “Much has beer emphasis laid ypon and the est cattle raising states, cattlemen must depend upon shipping the bull of thelr cattle to stern markets However the purchases of the local plant have helped to stabilize beet prices to some extent in those s tions of the state whict feeding as a good many of the ers now feed out their cattle inste of shipping them in the fall. per Provides Outlet. r with ¢ ma, dg som for hogs | soor 20,000 or | More annually, will provide an out let for mest of the hogs that can be ratsed in the farming districts of the nelghboring counties. All the hogs used by the Casper Packing company are bought at Omaha prices which puts the hog raisers of Wyoming on an equal batis with those ving closer to the big mar- | kets. The fact that corn cannot be raised as advantageously in some sections of this state as can in| some of the ne! ring stztes does | not make hog raising uyprofitable ly on barley and ota: s=Ain properly fed as they can on corn, according to the reports of many experiment stations. This is shown by the many fine hogs that are raised in states which’ grow little or no corn, } “Raising hogs, even on a consider- | able scale, does not require as big | an investment as elther sheep or cat- | tle and if liquidation is desired for | any reason it can be effected with | Uttle or no loss. This should make | hog raising particularly attractive to the smaller farmer. One dof the other play very well with King Corn or Prince Barley on the feed lot stag In conclusion, kind readers, we feel that the valuable and practical combination of King Corn, Queen Alfalfa and Prince Barley will be- come the most popular feature at- tractions during the coming season. Some of the older performers, wheat and Rye, will be on the program } but will serve only to assist and play up the “headliners.” Flat Rate Service Charge—Insures Reasonable Charge and Satisfactory DODGE BROTHERS MOTOR VEHICLES Sales Coliseum Motor C GRAHAM BROTHERS TRUCKS advantages of hog raising is that in case o over supply pened quickly ou{ government | hog low ineres it has adjust with e¢ catle r | parts of the w destruc’ Di “Muc hogs a BLE DEPENDA coh has been vantages of a one crop sy developing the dairy oming same c: tt try with the added adva > said pork indu: hat farniers ving longer « shortage of ho, product is of feed or as an hap: ls have curtatled shown by which puts tt per cent b > this t year, w ¢ © in price, On the taken four or fi to overproduction beet ynseqiient enormous losses to aisers, amounting ir t to almost complete | e cattle industry versified Parming Aided. said of the disad. em and most de r hand an item some | of this n at out of the state, e {8 nor son whatever why there should no* be sufficient hogs raised t farms of the districts adjacent Casper to keep tho biggest part c this money at tion of t mn added crop ar THE BIG SIX MOTOR COMPANY Tad STUDEBAKER STANDARD SIX—SPECIAL SIX—BIG SIX 226 South David St. Phone 1817 “Just Around the Corner from the Heart of the City” DODGE BROTHERS COMMERCIAL CARS Service ompany