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CHE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAKE, 5.6.

: Thureday, September 28, 1084

Williams Lake Tribune

Established 1931 Clive Stangoe, Editor Published every Thursday at Williams Lake, B.C. By The Tribune Publishing Co. Subscription: per Outside Canada ... Payable in

ear ..

Advance Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association British Columbia Division, C.W.N.A. ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION Authorized as Second Class Mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa

Assistance May Be Needed

Cariboo ranchers are faced with two dark possibilities in their industry this fall as a shortage of hay points to a greater sell-off of animals.

To those who are individually affected by the lack of harvestable hay on their own ranches, there is the problem of how many head they can successfully winter without dipping into savings too deeply for supplementary feed and whether they can afford to carry on without selling any of their breeding stock.

The other problem affects every beef producer. If too much beef is offered on the market this fall it is undoubtedly going to result in depressed prices, at a time when the normal price structure is none too high for the producer.

In both cases the Department of Agriculture would be well advised to examine the possibility of lending support now to help this basic industry. And in both cases the support could probably best be directed towards freight charges.

To a greater or lesser extent, every rancher will be using fced supplements this winter to round out the supplies of hay. But to the cost of this feed must be added the cost of freight, and the latter item looms large in the minds of those ranchers who are anywhere up to 200 miles from railhead. If govern- ment freight assistance on this feed could be instituted to wipe out this differential, it would, we believe, make a substantial change in the projected market picture.

On the question of the market itself, it is believed that a freight assistance program to Alberta would result in a firmer price scale. In the prairie provinces they have had much the same type of summer as we have experienced, and although their grain crops will suffer, there.is a correspondingly good supply of feed for livestock.

If the freight assistance was forthcoming for the move- ment of feeder cattle from the Cariboo to Edmonton, it is thought that buyers from the Alberta centre would be exteme- ly interested in our sales.

In any case, if any assistance for the ‘industry is going to be forthcoming it shou!d be thought about now, before the fall selling season is past. It would be small consolation to any rancher who sold heavily in the next month to discover too late that with the assistance of government support on freight he could have wintered more stock.

2

In Agriculture

Some sobering things are going on in Canada’s een tural economy these days. There is the tremendous damage done to the prairie grain crop by rust, hail and wet weather; the other day a windstorm destroyed 90% of Nova Scotia’s apple crop; last week a hail storm made sieves out of tobacco leaves in southern Ontario, wet weather has prevented haying in the beef cattle country here in B.C. and ranchers may be forced to sell off some of their basic herds.

Even closer to home, this has been anything but a good crop year. Raspberries were down in both volume and price; haying has been a battle that still isn’t finished; people are wondering if they ever will get their corn picked; beans have suffered in the wet weather; oats have been flattened by rain, milk prices are down.

This is not a cry of doom or depression. But Canada’s big farm income is a major part of its total. If farm incomes drop other incomes will drop too. This is no time for higher prices, higher wages.

A good many businesses will have to trim sail to meet the new conditions. Selling will become more aggressive and

“merchandisers will sharpen their pencils.

The lush days are definitely over both for the farmer and for everyone. All this is not bad; we are still a busy and pros- perous nation and we are fortunate in living in one of the busiest and most prosperous sections of the whole.—Chilliwack Progress.

Stock up on your supply of coal before the winter RUSH!

Order now while supplies are ample.

Phone 68-R-5

FRED MELLISH

The Pacifie Great Eastern Railway Co.

Effective June 1st, 1954, Will Operate THROUGH-FAST PASSENGER & EXPRESS SERVICH between VANCOUVER, B.C. AND PRINCE GEORGE, BO, Jncluding Sleeping & Dining Car Service Prince George - Squamish Dock Daylight Saving Time Ly-Vancouver (Union Pier) (a.m.-Mon-Wed-Frid Ar-Wins. Lake §:20a.m—Tues-Thur Ly-Wms. Lake 5:50a.m.-Tues-Thurs-Sat Ar-Pr. George 1:30p.m.-Tues-Thurs-Sat Ly-Pr. George Ar-Wms. Lake

«

3.40p.m.-Tues-Thurs-Sat 11:00p.m.-Tues-Thurs-Sat Ly-Wms. Lake 11:80p.m.-Tues-Thurs-Sat Ar-Vancouver (Union Pier) 6: 30p.m.-Wed-Frid-Sun THROUGH FREIGHT SERVICE Ly - Vancouver-Mon-Wed-Frid Ar - Wms. Lake-Wed-Frid-Sun FREE PICKUP AND DELIVERY ON FREIGHT AND EXPRESS

The Cracker Barrel Forum

By A. J. Drinkell

The weather was still ‘unsettled’ as the hoys foregathered for our last hold-forth; a condition which still further diminishes the prospect of harvesting any sizeable quantity of hay. However they were stimulated, to some extent, by the published ac- count of the recent meeting of vari-

ous parties concerned with the ranchers’ difficulties. No one will question the souwnd-

ness of studying means of preserving basic herds as close to normal as in- dividual cases permit. A ranch minus cattle is as barren of earning power as a store without merchandise. The use of high pro- tein pellets ap- pears to be the only alternative to herd reduc- tion but the ques- tion of finance is exercising the minds of many smaller ranchers.

Here are the ~ questions most rrequenty being ask: ed at the moment: What is it going to cost to feed those pellets? Are we going to realize enough on the cattle we do sell to cover this year’s oper- ating costs? For some inexplicable reason cattle prices have receded locally around two cents per pound. does this indicate buyers intend to exploit our misfortunes to the limit? If so, where is the money coming from to buy pellets. Assuming we can*make satisfactory arrangements to get pellets what a: ave we of obtaining funds 1son’s operations. VITAL QUESTIONS

To many these are vital qu needing quick answers, We have no up to the minute data regarding the cost of pellets but the latest avail-

able figures give the cost per ton of pellets having 17% protein rating to be around $70 at the Williams Lake warehouse, and around $135 for those having 32% protein. It is not- ed the agriculturists suggest a daily ration varying from two to five pounds per head according to cir- cumstances, but no mention is made regarding which type of pellet was refered to. That point may be clari- fied in the more specific information obtainable at -their district ofiices.

However, assuming the ration re- ferred to the lower grade pellets, pnd based upon reports of available roughage., most ranchers are going o require at least four pounds per head daily. Allowing $10 per ton to cover freight from railhead to ranch that means a daily cost of 16c per animal or some $1440 per one hun- dred head over a ninety day feeding period. It would be alniost double that if the higher grade pellets are called for.

One rancher tells us he prefers to feed the lower grade pellets giving a bit larger ration than is called for with the higher grade product be- cause it gives the animal a more con- tented feeling in its tummy. To those having the ready cash the foregoing may seem a small price to pay to save one’s earning power but to others it will pose serious financial prob- lems.

WEATHER CRISIS

There is little reason to doubt most ranchers will weather the crisis if financial - assist-

given reasonable ance. There is even less reason to question either their integrity or

competence. It strikes us as cold comfort to advise a chap to retain his basic herd as nearly intact as pos- sible without extending him some guarantee of reasonable prices for

From the Files

of the Tribune

ONE YEAR AGO September 24, 1953 Efficient operation will probably be the only way many district mills will be able to hold on for the next few months in the face of a steadily dropping lumber market— Advance entry list of bulls for the fall sale shew contribtors plan on bringing 70 animals— Terry Mart, well-known local youth, dies in accident at White- horse, Y.T.— Mrs. A. Halleran and Mrs. G. Blackwell form partnership as Blackwell’s Portraits— Rex Moon, grade twelve student, elected presi- dent of Williams Lake High School Students’ Council— Of interest to Chileotin and Williams Lake is mar- riage of Juanita Catherine Haines to Douglas Delbert Norberg— Joyce Holtom becomes the bride of Richard Dillabough— FIVE YEARS AGO September 22, 1949 Walter Hogg, M.L.A. for Cariboo, dies at his. home in Kamloops— Forty-eight members of the New Westminster and Vancouver Boards of Trade visit town and witness small rodeo at Onward Ranch— Laird Crawford of Langley takes over Buf- falo Creek store from T. Perkins-— Weekly sales show good steers bring- ing up to 19.50 and choice heifers around 17. TEN YEAR AGO September 21, 1944 Trooper H. Foster Lockwood, son of H. G, Lockwood of Williams Lake, killed in action in Italy— Frank

‘orange:

Crush

Phone

INTERIOR WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS

Williams Lake, B.O,

Goodrich’s ranch on Chimney Creek cold to Ray Pigeon of Dog Creek— Jesse Swanson Cole, 78, of Riske Creek, dies at War Memorial Hos- pital— TWENTY YEARS AGO September 20, 1934 :

Seventh annual livestock show and fair a success— Grand Champion fat animal of show contributed by R. C. Cotton and sold to Woodwards Ltd. at 9%c. The animal weighed 1180 pounds— Cotton Ranch Shorthorn bull entry wins championship of this class— ‘In carload lots money. fairly well divided between Cowan Ranch, Cotton Ranch, Chilco Ranch. J. Har- greaves, C. Moon and Ray Pigeon— In all, 293 head of cattle were sold for a total of $9,075.77. 569 sheep sold for $238— Roberts Better Meats advertises prize lamb bought at the fair for from 12% cents a pound to 23ec— Hunting season pro- vides for 15-day open season on doe deer. Bag limit two bucks and one doe.

SCOTT'S SCRAP: BOOK

°y R. J. SCOTT

APTER 5,

SSS Many fherric ISLANDS. WILL DISAPPEAR. 000 YEARS DUE % HE RISE IM SEA nose ‘ONE INCH EVERY 12 YEARS.

SHourd You Look AM 4B SUN Without EYE vaofectien)

y Hf NO- Hof EYEH DuRna| OLD As b ‘A PARCIAL ECLIPSE-

SAN INDISPENSABLE Appikion Ao AMER APPAREL :!

what he must sell coupled with an assurance of aid to pursue a fairly normal operational procedure next f

If you’re interested in

year. Too many factors enter into the question of prices for anyone to reaching over 1200 hazard a guess, at this time, as to 4

homes in the South

how the market will ultimately re- act but previous experience impels us to conclude nothing short of a government edict will effectively sta- Dilize it. It also appears to us there is a splendid opportunity for a strong delegation from the Cattlemen's Association to meet with the local bankers in an effort to work out a formula whereby ranchers needing it may receive aid toward purchasing their feed requirements without im- pairing their ability to acquire their customary loan for the coming sea- son's operations.

The Cariboo ranching industry is about to enter a period fraught with painful consequences even under the most mitigating circumstances. The throes can best be alleviated by fac- ing all the facts squarely and invok- ing extraordinary measures, the very essence of which is concerted action by all concerned.

Cariboo with your ad- vertising message —

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Williams Lake Branch: THOMAS LARSON, Manager

Beath

NEW HOME

OF

Motors (Williams Lake) Ltd.

located at

Corner of Oliver Street & 5th Avenue

Now Under Construction

Completion Date, October 9th

Ford

Monarch Farm Implements

Dealers for

Fordson Tractor

DICK MOQUIN, Resident Manager

Williams Lake