The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 17, 1917, Page 14

p— I.ive Hogs and Corn Prices Food Administration Says It Will Try to Maintain Ratio of 13 to 1 ACKERS were put under fed- eral license November 1. Rumors that were current for sometime before that to the effect that prices of hogs would be fixed at 10 cents by the food administration, have been denied, and Mr. Hoover announced specifically that there had been no discussion to the ef- fect that hogs ought to go down to 10 cents per pound live weigtL. What is of more importance is the announcement of Joseph D. Cotton, head of the meat division of the food administration, issued a few days ago. Mr. Cotton announced four main pur- poses of the meat division to be as follows: To see that the producer at all times can count on a fair price for hogs so that it will be profitable to him; To see that the farmer increases the number of hogs bred; ’ To limit the profit of the packer and the middleman; To eliminate speculation, U. S. CAN NOT FIX HOG PRICES The meat division can not set any fixed price for hogs either alive or after being converted into bacon and lard. All it can do is to supervise, un- der licenses, the meat industry, and if any units in the industry become grossly extortionate, to take over the plants in the name of the government and operate them for the nation and the allies. The packers are- still left to deal with the producers, The same factors that have always gone into price fixing in the stock yards will con- tinue to control. These factors include monopoly of the packing industry; controlling the rules under which hogs are sold in the stockyards; naming the price to the producers. The thing hog producers can wel- come is the announcement that an ef- fort will pe made to curb the pack- ers and iniddlemen to. such an extent that there will still be enough profit to keep farmers raising hogs. Whether this will bé done by a warning to the rackers that they are charging con- sumers too much, and entail a cut in consumers’ price® and also (possibly) a cut to hog producers, can be better daterminel after the licensing plan has Leén in operation a while. That the meat division intends to consider production costs seems indi- cated in the announcement that an ef- fort will be made to keep the price of live hogs per 100 pounds at 13 times the price of corn per bushel. This is on the.- theory that corn is the chief pork producing ration. The meat di- vision looked into statistics and found that for years past whenever farmers were unable to sell' 100 pounds of live hog for about 12 times the price of a bushel of corn, they quit raising hogs. It is believed that keeping just over this ratio of 12 to 1 will keep farmers raising hogs instead of selling thelr corn, PORK MARKET SPURT DUE TO SOFT CORN Corn is now so high ($2 to $2.25 per bushel) that little of the hard grain is being fed, and the corn that hogs are getting is mostly soft corn, that which was frosted and could not mature. There is no market value on this and each farmer who has it will have to use it himself. It is this great amount of soft corn that has started the sudden spurt in pig buying, for there is no other ecconomical way to get back the cost of its production. Temporarily this soft corn supply is keeping up the hog market and northern farmers are finding their pigs picked up at the stock yards by the corn belt feeders. But aside from this soft corn matter, which is but temporary, hog feeders of the Northwest have been compelled to feed wheat in many places, wheat hav- ing been reduced far below its normal price ratio in comparison with corn. of a lower corn price is sufficiently in- dicated by the fact that the Chicago Board of Trade, which at present fixes the price of corn, has issued strict or- ders to slow up on corn gambling. The Board has announced that unless the members limit speculation to some ex- tent the government may abolish spec- ulation in corn as it did in wheat. “PACKERS DON'T PROMISE” SAYS MR. COTON These are elements in the problem of hog prices. Some newspapers, nota- bly those whose sympathies are with big business and opposed to the farm- . ers, have announced that $15.50 at Chicago will be the minimum price. It is true Mr. Cotton said it would be-the “policy of the food administration, meat division, so far as it had any influence, to see that $15.50 should prevail for the average of the droves ‘“until further notice.” : But be said almost in the same . breath: “Let there be no” misunder- standing. It is not a guarantee backed by money. It is not a promise by the packers.” And after all it is only the packers who name the price to pro- ducers. The only way the meat division can affect the price under the present Vla.bwv;,v‘ is to place buying orders in such quan- tity that packers will voluntarily sup- port the ratio of 13 to 1. If corn is reduced, the meat division, will not feel bound to maintain present prices, but a ratio of 13 bushels of corn to 100 ° pounds of live hog at whatever the - new corn price may be. When the price of wheat was lowered 85 cents per.bushel to the farmers the price of feed was raised $2 or $3 per ton. Will the same thing occur if corn prices are fixed? Also if the price of hogs is lowered, it will be lowered for all producers, but there are large sections'of the North- west that do not depend upon. corn for hog fattening, and lowering the price of corn will not lower ‘their cost of pro- duction. Nevertheless they would have to sell at the reduced. price for hogs. This is the same region i:that is ‘now : marketing its spring whieat-at less than production cost, and such a policy of fixing hog prices, would undoubtedly stimulate the already heavy marketing of live hogs unless the price of -ground feeds is reduced by the government. A NONPARTISAN THRESHING CREW D. E. Robertson of Fordville, N. D., and seven of his neighbors solved the labor problem by pooling their time and doing their own threshing. Working from 10 to 11 hours a day for 10 days they threshed 2500 acres of grain. bers of the Nonpartisan league. When the food administration becomes fully aware of this as no doubt it will soon,sthen it may lower the price on corn to save the wheat, and if the corn price goes down, the hog price will also go down in compliance with the 13 to 1 ratio announced by Mr. Cotton. That there is a serious probability Value of Purebred Bulls Figures Show How They Increase Milk and Fat Production Evidence is always accumulating that purebred livestock is far superior to graded or scrub stock. Noteworthy additional proof comes now from the Jowa experiment station, where tests were made with several purebred bulls in increasing milk and butterfat pro- duction, when bred to scrub cows. In this experiment Holstein, Guernsey and Jersey bulls were used. After mating purebred bulls to scrub cows, the heifers were bred back to bulls of the same breeds, so that the third generation of cows shown in the tables were three-fourths purebred, and one-quarter scrub, those of the second generation being half-breeds, and those of the first being ordinary scrub animals. Take the case of the Holstein: Here was a scrub cow giving 3,255 pounds of milk with only 161 pounds of butter- fat in a year. She was bred to a pure- bred Holstein bull, and her calf almost doubled the milk production and in- creased her cream production 100 pounds in a year. This half-breed’s heifer calf again bred back to a pure- bred Holstein bull produced 11,295 pounds of milk in a year and 431 pounds of butterfat. although their percentage of increase in this particular experiment was not so great as that of the Holstein. See Table 1 below for the increases in volume of milk and butterfat content. In Table 2 the percentage of increase for the second and third generationsis shown. = That ‘is, the half-breed Hol- stein increased her'milk production 94 per cent and her fat production 62 per cent; and the three-quarter-breed in- creased her milk production 245 per cent over that of the original scrub grandmother, and . her :fat production 168 per cent. While the percentages for the other two breeds do not show such a rapid increase, they show the undoubted truth that there was a big proportional increase when purebred bulls were used. INCREASE BY PERCENTAGE Second Third Generation Generation Bull Used Milk Fat Milk Fat Holstein ..... 94 62 245 168 Guernsey ..... 11 17 ‘70 91 Jersey ........ 39 54 40 56 o INCREASE IN MILK AND FAT IN POUNDS Dams’ Average Milk Fat Holstein .... vees3,255 161 Guernsey . ..4,168 136 JErSE€Y sievesesssesss.3,903 186 Bull Used Daughters’ Average Milk Fat 6,311 261 4,634 218 5,400 287 Granddaughters’ Average Milk Fat 11,295 431 7,091 356 5,479 291 The same prin-- ciple is shown in the other two breeds,: ' ed when his car arrived. . loss to northern growers has been duse to this unorganized method of maritet- They are mem- “We'll stick,” says Mr. Robzrtson, who sent us the above picture of himself and neighbors. Market Their Own Spuds North Dakota Farmers Have Association at Work This Season North Dakota potatoes are this sea- son going to market to Oklahoma, Kansas and other midwestern points through the hands of a state growers’ association for the first time, and re- ports of the new organization’s opera- tion indicate it is satisfactorily meet- ing the growers’ needs. The potatoes grown in North Dakota are the equal of the best grown anywhere, and super- ior to those from many sections. Thus far this year the shipped crop is going principally for reseeding in the Kaw valley and other sections, as the potatoes are free from all blemishes: and diseases, good keepers and hardy growers. Until the formation of the ! North Dakota Potato Growers associa- tion, each individual had to find his market at his.own peril, and frequently the market he reached was overcrowd- ing. After a study of marketing condi- . tions extending over two, seasons and including the most successful associa- tions in the business, the North Da- kota association was formed at the state fair at Fargo in 1916 with some of the leading growers as members and officers, The plan to bring into it other growers enough to give a de- pendable supply of potatoes was con- tinued throughout last fall and early this summer, and some time age Joseph Eastgate of Larimore was se-, cured as manager, and he is now in active charge of the stock that is roll- ing. © The new manager knows both ends of the potato game, the marketing and the growing ends. The farmers load their potatoes at their local stations, mail the bill of lading to the manager, and he does the rest. He diverts the car to the best market, and it is his business to know in advance by wire advices where to find the best market. PAGE FOURTEEN Much of the. He handles all matters connected with transportation claims, deals with ree jected shipments, and also buys supe plies in large quantities to be furnishe ed the members at cost, and in this way helps to conserve their profits. The amount saved on sacks used in the shipment of a single carload of pota- toes will equal the cost of membership in the state association, it is said. 1 By handling several hundred care loads of potatoes the association is enabled to do much better for the growers than if only a few lots are handled, and for that reason an active campaign to secure as many members as possible, and lessen the individual . overhead expense has been carried fore . ward, PQTATO STORING DON'TS Don’t store potatoes while they are moist. Don’t store without first sorting inte table grade and culls for feed. Don’t bank potatoes without provide ing a ventilator. Don’t cover potatoes with damp earth when storing in a hot cellan They will start to sprout if you do. Don't forget to watch the thermomes ter. The ideal temperature is from 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t forget to sort out the decayed potatoes before the trouble spreads. Don't forget to serve freely every day. This will help to keep the storage supply up to table grade. . RIG UP EVENERS In view of the probable shortage of farm labor next spring, now is a time- 1y occasion to rig up several three and four-horse eveners to be used on the farm implements. One man with a four- horse team will do almost as much work in preparing the spring seed-bed as two men, each using a two-horse team.