The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 24, 1917, Page 5

e o ‘ o %- L T e me— “Tt is up to the voters of this state to listed * * * But, even so, the same (Continued from page 4) present time (nearly two years ago) when bran is sold from $20 to $21 per ton, and shorts from $21 to $28 per ton and mill screenings from $12 to $14 per ton, the condition is quite different. The larger proportion of screenings, bran and shorts produced in the re- Jjected flour, have a higher commercial value than formerly and, therefore, the profits in converting a rejected wheat into mill products and sélling the same, Qffer a larger profit to the miller than that from higher grades. In other words, in grade No. 1 Northern, as re- “Directly correlated with the fore- going - propaganda, a packing plant should be established within the state, also owned and controlled by farmers, where the livestock could be shipped olit of the state, ready for consump- tion, after supplying our local needs. For what sense is there in paying freight on livestock to St. -Paul or Chicago to have.it butchered, then pay freight on it back again for home con- sumption,’ in the meantime divorcing our feeders from -the benefit end of the business. “Moreover, the labor cost, both ex- ported, the cost for 100 pounds of pert and unskilled, necessary to wheat was $1.95. The net returns on operate elevators, mills or packing the same were $2.28391. The 100 plants, returns a profit; for it is im- mediately spent among our merchants for groceries, clothing, rents, etc. “‘But this thing can’t be done,’ says ‘the doubter. I do not anticipate that it will be done right away. At some future time, probably. But the possi- bilities are boundless. North Dakeota has the natural resources to become a veritable fountain of wealth, ever in the ascendency, instead of ultimately losing outr on account of depleting its soil by forever taking from it and making no returns. And by making farming a real business instead of an adjunct to money sharks, chambers of commerce, boards of trade or packing combines, - our farmers should make two dollars where they. are now mak- ing one—and make them legitimately. “I repeat again, the remedy is co- operation and organization for distri- bution as well\as production.” ! pounds of rejected wheat cost $1.746, and the net receipts were $2.3148. Or, it will be observed that for each 100 pounds of wheat the returns above the original cost are as follows: Net receipts No. 1 Northeri ...veeveen.....0.33391 Rejected 1 ..0i&00 o oR iarTans .....0.5688 “‘The returns, therefore, on the re- Jected wheat were considerably better than the returns for grade No. 1 Northern. “ ‘In other words on a crop of 100,000,- 000 bushels, had the grading been in proportion to the met returns for the product sold from the mill, assuming that the profits on grade No. 1 North- ern were reasonable, the farmers of North Dakota should have received an additional $5,271,398. VALUE TO THE'STATE OF A PACKING-PLANT “This sum, added to the table previ- ously referred to, swells the total that . farmers might save by exporting only flour instead of uncleaned wheat, to the extraordinary sum of $55,865,000. PRESENT DAY CONDITIONS WOULD ENLARGE LOSS The foregoing is reasserted, though revising the figures to present market say whether this great leak shall be stopped—and how. If left to the politicians it will grow larger instead of being plugged up. Private capital might be en- disposition to make large dividends would control. On the other hand, if the state were to extend its credit to accomplish these ends this difficulty would be obviated.”—Dr. Worst. ' conditions would increase millions of dollars. them -by It is not contended, however, . that the proportions are exact, but sufficient allowance has been made to cover every quibble. For instance in the manure value of the by-products of 100,000,000 bushels of wheat, if the by-products were fed in the state, the figures are placed at $22,374,000. This is theeal joker, according to the Grand Forks Herald. Nevertheless, according to the best - scientific " evidence obtainable a twenty-bushel per acre crop of wheat, including the straw, receives from the soil:- ; : 43.92 pounds of Potash at 5c..... $2.19 19.80 pounds of Phosphorus at 4c .79 42.00 pounds of Nitrogen at 15c 6.30 o $9.28 These figures at prices for the ele- ments above mentioned considerably below what the markets demanded even two years ago cause a loss of 46% cents a bushel, in fertility, for every bushel of wheat exported, or $46,500,000 instead of :$22,374,000 as stated in the address. Of course not all the straw is burned and some fer- tility goes_with the flour. We have, however, been conservative in order to be on the safe side. If the by-products were fed to live- stock in the state less straw would be burned and a much larger tonnage would be converted into profit on ac- count of- its feeding value, as well as be converted into manure. Any mon- keying with the manurial value of feeding the by-products of 100,000,000 bushels of wheat will enlarge the figures as stated very materially, and Dr. Ladd's more recent investigations into “Feed D” wheat makes the figures in this article more than conservative. How It All Came About the publications whose anger was stirred because the attorney general of this state, elected by the votes of the farmers of the state, is engaged in a campaign against vice. : If you believe in law and order and decency and prosperity for your state you will not spend much time—or money—with the Grand Forks Herald. poan * % ® PLEASE ‘‘NOTE THE BIG ITEM’’ : ““‘Note the Big Item,’’ says the Grand Forks Herald, and we, too, join with Dr. Worst in inviting you to ‘‘note the big item.”’ Now what is the big item? It is this:-“Value of manure, 764,400 cattle at $29.27, $22,374,000.”’ ' 5 3 The lily-handed effeminate, fresh from the perfectly nice occupa- tion of rah-rahing at some ‘‘exclusive’’ boarding school of snobbery along the dollar-cursed Atlantic seaboard and writing home for money to some dollar chasing old eommercial pirate who supplies-the funds, such a one shrinks from the crude facts of life out here next to the soil. Tn his. coarse-minded moments the idea that cattle manure is a valuable resource, useful in agricultural enterprise, fills his vacuous cranium with inexpressible merriment. It is his idea of a good joke. It is the Grand Forks Herald’s id®a of a good joke. ‘“Cattle manure is worth money tu the farmer.”” What a joke! Ha! ha! : * * * WHAT THEY MEAN BY IT ~ . But, taking the attitude of patient and scientifie inquiry, let us struggle along a little further with the gditor of the Grand Forks Herald and see where this output of his ossified cerebral tissue will ad us. ~ - k This idea that twenty-two millions or any sum, in fact, is lost by the sacrifice of soil fertility is just plain ‘‘bunk,’’ says the editor of the Herald when he can get over laughing at his good joke about the nure. < i Now notice where that leads you: What was the doctrine preach- ed by. the ‘‘better farming’’ movement? Rotate your crops; keep cattle; fertilize your fields; make two blades of grass grow where one grew before—all ‘‘bunk,’’ says the Grand Forks Herald. ‘What does the agricultural college tell you? What does the de- partment of agriculture tell you? What do the journa:ls of scientific agriculture tell you? Why just this: Don’t rob the soil; take care of its fertility ; use fertilizer; keep cattle and' hogs and feed your by- products so as to save the soil fertility that is in them. Othqrmse you will eventually find the soil ‘‘running out’’ and the state will become ert. 2 : ? de§‘All bunlk,” says the Grand Forks Herald’s carpet-bagger expert. Oh, you expert! - ‘Draw us another cartoon and write us another essay on agriculture. We want some more of these l.)eazls of wisdom. ‘ »* THE PERFECT DEMAGOGUE , The Grand Forks Herald is the perfect exemplification of the demagogue. It has heard somewhere that the farmers ‘‘don’t beligve in ‘better farming’.”’ So the foxy tenderfoot carpet-bagger editor of «L ~ y Continued from page 4) Now the question is mnot whether more than $55,000,000 can be saved for the farmers of the state, but how can it be done? Is-the farmer of sufficient importance to make it worth while to help him save this amount? Where will the money come from to promote mills and terminal elevators and packing plants? That's the ques- tion. If only five cents per bushel can be saved, in five years it would pay off 25,000,000 worth of bonds. It is up to the voters of the state to say Mwhether this great leak shall be stopped—and how. If left to the politictuns it will grow larger instead of being plugged up. Of course private capital might he enlisted within or without the state to finance the manufacture of the bulk of the wheat, certainly to finance terminal elevators and packing plants which, with even partial manufactur- ing facilities for converting wheat into flour would practically regulate the distribution of the principal agricul- tural products. But even so, the same disposition to make large dividends would control. On the other hand if the state were to extend its credit to accomplish these ends this difficulty could be obviated. But should the state do this? Should the state take some chances in order to possibly stop a financial leak of more than $30,000,000 a year? This phase o the question is open for dis- cussion. From the present temper of congress, however, there is little question bhut that the federal government will swing so far toward regulating what hereto- fore has been considered private busi- ness’ as to make state-owned mills, elevators, etc., look like an elementary proposition. = - the Herald turns his back on the men who have been preaching better farming in his own columns and tells his readers that it is ‘‘all bunk.’’ Why—bless your soul, you poor, benighted ignoramus—the farmers of this state are not against batter farming. it thoroughly. can get hold of. They believe in They are practicing all the scientific knowledge they What they were against was the doctrine that their sole business was ‘‘better farming’’ and that they had no shadow of right to inquire into the market conditions under which their products were sold. What they were suspicious of was the object of the “better farming’? movement and some of the men who were hack of it. g - They did not object to being shown BETTER WAYS OF FARM- ING, but they were not in quite so much of a hufry to adopt these BETTER WAYS until they could be assured of KEEPING FOR THEMSELVES SOME OF THE PROFIT OF THESE BETTER WAYS. There’s the whole secret of the farmers’ ‘‘better farming’’ movement in a nutshell. attitude toward the Now do you get it? Even a tenderfoot, carpet-bagger editor ought to be able to see that. * . = % COME AGAIN, MR. EDITOR X So far as the Grand Forks Herald goes this cartoon and what goes with it—eall it anything it stands for, Mr. Editor—show pretty plainly the truth about the attitude of the Herald and the men who support it and are in league with it. They don’t really care ing methods or improving the prosperity of the state. a hoot about farm- All they want is to keep the farmer befooled and befuddled with adviee so that they can GET MORE OUT OF HIM. That’s the truth in a nutshell; isn’t it? Please read Dr. Worst’s new “bull”’—containing more of it—and then draw us another cartoon and try your hand at explaining some niore. It took you a year to think up this one. Maybe we can expect another ‘‘bull’’ in the statutory time. - Foresees Minnesota. has her “patriots,” who are lining' up their forces in battle array against the Nonpartisan League in that state, Profiting by the failures of the Old Gang in North Dakota, they are adopting exactly opposite tactics in Minnesota. The Old Gang in that state has, through a trio of inconspicuous hirelings, incorporated under the laws of ‘the state as the ‘“Nonpartisan League.” Its articles of incorpoeation read like the.Sermon on the Mount, with the Decalogue thrown in for good measure, * It is calculated to fool and FIVE Old Gang Fizzle befuddle the Minnesota farmers so as to divide the support of the real Non- partisan League, which already num- bers 20,000 members in the Bread and Butter state. But the new corporation will hardly be able to put it across. It has already been denounced and repu- diated by state officials dnd politicians in high places, who, no doubt, have. heard of the inglorious and untimely death of North Dakota's “Good Gov- ernment ILeague,” organized under similar circumstances and for identi- cal purposes. — BOTTINEAU COUR- ANT. o oo ST