HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-05-06, Page 6T sE Fow,TH N4W$
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1943
COMMUNIQATION I
?''he Editor Seeforth News,
Dear Sir; By what ways and means
can the fainters, of Ontario and the
Dominion of Canada as a whole in-
crease production of food stuffs to be
a benefit and, help: to win the war?
Last fall the Government lowered
the price of tea, coffee, oranges and
milk, and that costs the Government
$40,000,000 annually, besides giving a
lot of clerks a job. It might coat the
Goverment $50,000,000 before it's
paid and after that they said to the
consumers of butter they were pay-
ing too Melt for their butter, so we
will lower it 1% cents per pound.
Then they said to the farmers: You
are not,getting enough for your but-
ter fat; we were giving you a sub-
sidy or six cents for butter fat and
we will give you a raise of 4 cents,
That will be 10 cents that you get for
your butter fat. The week before that
came into force we were getting at
our door 44 cents for butter fat, The
next week, when it came into force,
we only got 46 cents. Where slid the
other two black cents go to ? That
'will take hundreds of . clerks more.
Between that and the tea and coffee
it may cost between 75 to 100 mill-
ions of dollars a year, and it will not
Delp to produce any more foodstuffs
to help win the war that I can see.
Then I saw in the papers that was
a fine Christmas present for the Deo-
ple. That brought to my memory a
young couple that got married lust
before Christmas, A clay or two be-
fore Christmas he went to town and
bought a $100 Christmas box for
Mary Dear, his wife, and when
Christmas morning came he present-
ed the fine Christmas present to his
wife. She looked at it and she
thought it was fine, but in a moment
she asked hint where he got • the
money to buy this fine present. "Oh,
Mary Dear, I taxed you for it." She
said to him, "You just take that back
where you got it. It will not help up
to make anything. If every dollar of
that would help to make 3 plus 4 are
5 dollars, it will be all right."
I see Ontario is falling down in
proficiency in the amount of food-
stuffs for the war and home con-
sumption. That is not any fault of
the far'mer's. This last year we, in
Ontario, had a large crop of grain—
more than we have had for a long
time. We farmers in Ontario can feed
50,000,000 bushels of grain more than
we can grow, to feed our stock, so as
to produce up to capacity. I am pret-
ty safe in saying that last year's
grain will soon be fed on the average
farm and you can go through lots of
stables today and half the cows are
very thin and the cattle that are
feeding in the stable and those that
are for the grass are not getting
enough grain to produce enough
beef.
I saw in the papers that men, like
Dewan, the Minister of Agriculture,
and all those government men, are
telling the farmer's to produce in On-
tario and that we can buy Western
grain at reasonable prices to make it
pay. But I have not seen in auy
paper or from any of them, what feed
it takes to produce a pound of butter
fat from standard cream, or a pound
of cheese, or 100 pounds of dressed
pork, or 100 pounds of standard milk,
or a dozen eggs, and what price the
farmer should get at his door to have
a small profit over and above all ex-
penses.
I claim that we farmers in Ontario
can not pay $30 a ton for good grain
from the West laid down to us in the
barn, They talk of No. 5 wheat, feed
oats, feed barley. That is not good
grain to buy, but even that grain will
cost $30 a ton put in the barn and
ground. I would like to have those
men's figures that are telling farmers
to produce, but I will give my figures:
I will take a dairy cow freshened
the first of March, milking for 300
days; then dry for 65 days:
Expenses for one year in the stable
from the zrst of March till the 9th
of May:
70 days' labor at 6c per day at 40a
per hour for 70 days—$4.20.
Milking by hand or machine twice
per day, 14c per clay for 70 days,
$9.80.
8 lbs. of ureal per day at $20 per
ion, for 70 days—$5.60.
Ensilage, hay and straw at Se per
day for 70 days—$5.60,
Interest for $120 at cow at 4c per
100—$4,30.
Los of one cow out of 20 every
year—$6.00.
From May 9th to Oat, 31st on grass,
175 days milking and putting in
stable at 14c per clay for 175 days—
$94,50.
Grass at 7c per 'clays for 175 days
—$12,25,
Five lbs. 0f meal per day for 175
days at $20 per ton—$8,75.
From Oat. 31st at Dec. 25011, 55
days,in stable: Labor at 60 per day
for 56 days—$3,80.
Milking at 14e per day—$740.
`Meal, 8 lbs, per day for 56 days,
and ensilage, hay .and straw --$4,40;
or Sc per day if a person has no en-
silage. hay, straw, roots, or 801110
other feed will be the same ---$4.40,
:From Dee, 25th to-Maroh 1s't,. 65
days dry; labor; labor at 60 Per day
fol' 65 day's—$3,$0.
5 lbs: of meal for 65 days—$3,25..
Iliisilage, fray and strew at 8c per
day for 65 days—$5.10.
Depreciation of cow for 8 :year's
and separator; interest on building,
insni'ance 101 one year end taxes—
$10.00, Total expenses, $173.55.
I will now taste the income from
the cow:
She will give ate average of 20 lbs.
of milk per clay for 300 days, wlrioh
Will be 6,000 pounds at 2e per .pound
will be .$120.00. That will be a foss
of $3.55.
1 ant safe in saying the Half of the
cows ire Ontario are not producing
that in 300 days. I will take 1,000,000
cows in Ontario with my fifures at
6,000 lbs, of milg per cow will be
6,000,000,000 lbs, of milk, We will see
what 3 lbs. of meal per clay extra for
300 clays' milking, that will be 900
lbs, of meal, which will make . an in-
crease of 4 lbs, of milk per day for
300 clays, which would be 1,200 lbs. of
milk extra, That will snake 200 lbs.
of milk at a cost of $9.00 for meal
extra, which would bring the total
expenses per cow to $132,55. Then
add 1,200 to 6,000 making 7,200 lbs.
which at 2 cents per patnd will be
$144.00.
So you see by increasing the cow
3 pounds per day for 300 days, 1 have
a pr'o'fit of $11.45 from the cow, so we
see it is the last few pounds of meal
that gives us the profit. With the
extra 3 pounds of meal per day for
300 days given to 1,000,000 cows in
Ontario at 1,200 lbs, of milk per cow
extra, will be 1,200,090,000 lbs, of milk
extra at 2c per 1b, will make $24,-
000,000 from 450,000 tons of nmeal.
I will now divide that 1,200,000,000
lbs, of milk that I got extra from
1,000,000 cows into three parts: For
milk alone, 400,000,000 lbs,; cheese
from 400,000,000 lbs.; of milk at 111/
lbs, of milk for 1 lb, of cheese will
be 34,782,608 lbs, of cheese; butter
from 40,000,000 lbs. at 28 lbs. of
standard milk for 1 lb, of butter fat
will be 14,285,714 lbs., and 400,000,000
lbs, of milk at 2c per lb. will be .58,-
000,000; 34,752,608 lbs. of cheese at
22c per lb„ $7,652,173; 14,285,714 lbs.
of butter at 40c per lb,, $5,714,285;
'350,000,000 lbs. of ski mmilk at 40c
per hundred, $1,400,000. Total, $7,-
114,285.
I will now take the expense, of
feeding a steer for 200 days in the
stable from Oct. 20011 to May 8011. I
will take a 1100 lb. steer, put in the
stable at 1014c per Ib. will be $115.50;
labor at 40c per hour will be 60 per
day for 200 days, $12,00; 8 lbs. of
meal per clay at $20 per ton for 200
days, $16; ensilage, hay and straw,
Sc per day, $16.00; interest on steer
for 200 days at 4 per cent., $2.40; loss
per cent„ 54.00. Total cost $165.90.
In 200 days on that feed he will
gain 200 lbs., which would make
1300 lbs., and at 121/zc per lb. his sell-
ing price would be 5162.50, or a loss
of 53.40. But if we in Ontario could
get the grain from the West at 520
per ton and feed 4 lbs. more meal per
day that' would make that 1100 -pound
steer 1400 pounds, The extra meal
necessary would add $8 or a total
cost of 5173,90, but a 1400-1b. steer at
121/2c per pound would bring $175.00,
or a profit of $1.10, and would make
55 pounds of dressed beef more add-
ed to food production, and take 500,-
000 head of cattle in .Ontario every
year that are killed it would add 27,-
500,000 pounds of dressed beef with
an increase of only 800 lbs, of meal
per head,
The Government would like the
farmers of Ontario to increase the
hogs 25 per cent. in 1943 to fill the
amount of bacon required. We can.
not increase the weight of the hog,
but we could increase the number of
Pigs within one year by keepiuk more
sows and we could feed 500,000 more
pigs if we got the grain from the
West at around $20 per ton, at the
price we ars getting at the present
time for our dressed pork, that is
$16.50 per hundred,
I ani putting the grain at $20 per
ton for feeding the cows, cattle and
hogs, milk at $2 per hundred, cattle
at 12I, c per pound live weight, and
hogs at $16,50 dressed, The grain put
in the barns and the milk, cheese,
batter fat at our door; the cattle at
our station, and the dressed hogs for
the farmer.
But if we pay $30 to $40 per ton
for the grain, we will have to get
$2,30 per hundred for our milk; 25c.
per ib, for cheese; 480 per lb, for but-
ter fat, and 131/20 per Ib, for cattle
and, lee per lb, for our dressed hogs,
The Agriculture Departinent at Ot-
tawa reported the arount of grain in
the West last fall was around 1,000,-
000,000 bushels; of wheat, between
five and six hundred million bushels;
of oats, 250,000,000 bushels, and 26,-
000,000 bushels barley and rye, all
held by the farmer's of the West and
the elevators of the Dominion of
Canada.
The Government is paring millions
of dollars every Year ler s1olagc and
other expenses and doing ne good to
help win the war, and 'the farmers
can not sell it,while the farmer's in
Ontarlu could feels 40 or 150 million
bushels'' et wheat, cats and barley
more' this year than they are raising
themselves if they could get 10 down
to Ontario at the price the farmers
are getting in the West at the eleva-.
tors, and the Government at the pre-
sent time is paying free freight from
Fort William for the farmers i11 the
Bast, and it is costing the farmer's in
Ontario from $32 to $33 per ton,
I claim that free freight policy from
Dort William never helped the farm-
ers very 11111011, My, suggestion would
be for the 'Government to take steps
to Handle the grain from the West to
the Bast, That would be about $11.50
Per ton for the government to pay
and the farnlei's, I understand, are
getting around 529 per ton in the
West;\ That would cost the farmers
around $20 per ton in the Bast, the
salve as the fanners are getting in
the West, and the Government to put
a elan in the West to look after the
buying and shipping and another plan
in Ontario to look after it in the
Bast, and the farmers in the Bast to
give the orders to the agricultural
man iu their county and he send it
to the man in Ontario, and he send it
to the man iu the West, giving him
all orders when to ship it, That
would be like killing three birds with
one stone. We will take 40 or 50 mill-
ion bashers of grain or 1,000,000 tons,
the farmers In the West would get
around $20,000,000 and the farmers in
Ontario would produce extra .food-
stuffs to help to win the war: 400,000,-
000 lbs. of milk, 34,000,000 lbs. of
cheese, 14,255,715 lbs. of butter fat,
27,500,000 lbs. of dressed beef; 60,-
000,000 lbs. of dressed bacon, andwill
cost the Government only 511,000,000,
and it will fetch a revenue into Ont-
ario of: Milk, $8,000,000;cheese, $7,-
651,172; butter, $7,114,285; dressed
beef $9,900,000, or a total of $24,666,-
457, and dropp all those subsidies on.
tea, coffee, butter, and other food-
stuffs that are doing no good to Help
to produce to win the war, and cut
all those clerks loose so that they
can do something more to help win
the war. That would save millions of
dollars.
If the farmers in Ontario are fall-
ing clown in foodstuffs, it is Ito fault
of theirs. The farmers and their
wives and families have done a wond-
erful work, working Hard, supplying
foodstuffs to help to win the war,
and the United Nations need More
and more foodstuffs.
This shortage of fodstuffs in Ont-
ario did not happen in 12 hours of
darkness in one night; it started
about two years ago when the farm-
ers were filled up with those bogs,
cattle and cows, but they had not
enough feed to feed them, and they
went after the Government to get
the grain from the West as it was
lying rotting in the West, and the
farmers of Ontario had to sell thou-
sands of their sows and they were
shipping light cattle and not half fat
to the market. If the Government had
got the grain frbin the West, as I
have'said, they would have kept those
sows and few their cattle up to thir-
teen and fourteen hundredweight and
they would be coming on to the mar-
ket this whiter and the cows would
be giving millions of pounds more
milk if this grain had been conning
to Ontario the past two years. But it
is not too late yet as we are right in
the middle of the war and we can not
see the end of it yet.
If the Government takes action
right away and gets the grain to On-
tario, the farmers of Ontario will pro-
duce the foodstuffs and fill the quota.
MAT ARMSTRONG
Raids Not Over
When you look over the roofs of
English cities, the first thing that
strikes you are chimney pots. Every
building has a battery of anywhere
up to a dozen or more of these pots.
The roofs are generally more cut up
with all kinds of turrets than is the
case in Canada, and with these
chimney pots it makes the roofs hard
to get at and hard to patrol.
Ladders are usually kept on them
'so that any part of the roof can be
quickly reached. This work is most
important during raids, and the pro-
per control of incendiaries on these
roofs just means the difference be-
tween damage and staggering losses.
In the parish magazine of St.
Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol, the
church which Queen Elizabeth in
1574 described as being the "aifrest
goodiiest, and most famous Parish
churoh in England". I read this ap-
peal, "Without question the greatest
material treasure in British is ' St.
Mary Redcliffe Church I now ask
the women of Bristol if they will
help to guard it against fire.. We
want two, at least, and three better
still, to be on duty every night. Wo-
men between 17 and 5 will be wel-
comed, and if you arrange with a
friend or friends to take on one
night a week, you will be doing
"By Jove, 1 am not covetous for gold nor
care 1 wlio doth feed ` upon my .cost; it
yearns me not if n'►en my garments swear;
Such outIs'O,'d things dwell not in nay de-
sires; but if it be a sin to covet honbur
d am the most offending soul alive."
King ilenry V, Part 5,, Act 4, Scene 3.
said King Henry V of
England on. the eve of an
invasion of the continent of
Europe five centuries ago.
At Agincourt the arms of England
won a victory that lives inscribed for
evermore on ` the national scroll of
honour. Today Shakespeare's words
re-echo in our ears as we Canadians
prepare to offer our wealth, our goods,
our blood, in a cause more honour-
able than Henry's; more honourable
than any that history has yet record-
ed. Do we, too, covet honour more
than cost, more than gold, and out-
ward things? Let it not be said that
even the least one among us has
failed to back the attack.
President and General Manager
MASSEY-HARRIS COMPANY, LIMITED
BACK THE ATTACH-
BUY VICTORY BONDS
great service. Now is the time ' to
strengthen our band of watchers be-
fore the winter begins."
Some say that the reason there
have ben so many churches destroy-
ed in England is due to the difficulty
in protecting these roofs from in-
cendiaries. It seems to be very diffi-
cult work to ask women to do, yet
they are cheerfully responding to
the appeals. And remember, that in
al probability, the women who take
on this work, will do it in addition to
working at their regular occupation
every day.
The first great fire of London was
in 1666; the second one was in 1940.
Every able bodied man available by the fact that the defences are so
and every piece of fire fighting much better than they were, that
equipment which could be brought
to London was engaged in trying to.
'overcome the flames. I am told by
'people who were there that men
worked until they dropped from ex-
haustion, and that engines ran until
their bearings were burnt out. I
have even heard it said that if the
German raiders had come back one
more succeeding night, the whole,
city would have gone as the men
and equipment could not have car-
ried on any longer.
The people of England now seem
to think that the worst is over, that
such raids cannot happen again.
They are encouraged in this belief
there are more and better planes for
defence, that there are many more
balloons, that the ack-ack is stronger
,and' better, that the ARP is much
better organized and more effective.
The Hon. Mr, Morrison told us that
there are now 1450 fire companies
merged into the National Fire Ser
'vice.
Authorities however, hold a differ- 4Y'
ent view. They are warning the peo-
ple that increased heavier raids are
not only possible but very probable.
Some authorities say that the recent
months • have only been a lull in
which Germany has been tooling up
in order to release heavier bombs
on England more after the block
busting type.
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SRAFORTI, ONTARIO,