Cheaper to Ship Wheat to Liverpool Than to Seattle: An Inland Empire Farmer's Case Against the Railroads

The inhabitants of that portion of Eastern Washington lying between the Cascade mountains and the Snake river depend upon grain raising. Four counties south of Spokane and between that river and the mountains — Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin — owe their subsistence to the production of grain. Spokane and Whitman counties are largely composed of what is called the famous Palouse country, which annually produces from forty to ninety bushels of grain to the acre. In the country of the Columbia river we have Adams, Lincoln and Douglas, which are becoming a great wheat section of this state. Twenty years ago these counties were a perfect paradise for stock raisers, but the great herds have been driven out by the settlers' fences and plows until stock raising is a very small factor in the pursuits of the Big Bend.

Asked what varieties of grain are grown and what the average yield of land may be, the Whitman county farmer replied: The principal grain grown is wheat, but in addition to that we raise barley, oats and flaxseed. The variety longest grown — what is best known — is the hardy 'Little Club,' which does well either fall or spring sowing. It has a very stiff straw and stands up well for a long period after ripening; the head is very compact and the grain is well seated and holds tenaciously, so that it is less liable to shatter by the wind. There are many other varieties of wheat besides the favorite Little Club which are successfully grown in Eastern Washington, such as Blue Stem, Australian White, Chili Club, Alta, Velvet Chaff, Red Chaff Club, White Fultz, Yellow Amber and others of various merit, grown in proportions fixed by locality, moisture, method of harvesting, etc. The varieties popular in some grain sections are not used here: these are the softer strawed varieties, which do not stand up well for the headers, shatter easily and must be harvested with binders. The varieties which have been, in my judgment, the most profitable in this country are Little Club, Red Chaff Club and Chili Club, and outside of the club wheats, the Blue Stem. The latter sells higher in the markets, but in my experience it does not yield as well as the club varieties, though this, of course, may be largely governed by locality and the nature of the soil.

Our wheat is known as a soft wheat. It seems to be a peculiar condition of our soil and climate to produce a soft wheat with a stiff straw. The varieties of wheat grown in the Middle and Eastern states have soft straw and very hard berries, but when seed of these varieties is planted in Washington they seem to change their nature: the berry gradually becomes soft and the straw harsh.

The yield of wheat per acre is, of course, governed by locality, nature of soil and method of cultivation. On one farm a man may get an average of sixty bushels to the acre, and on his neighbor's farm adjoining, the same variety of wheat may yield fifty bushels to the acre, the difference being caused by the method of cultivation and the condition of the ground. In this part of the country — Eastern Whitman — we figure on a yield of from thirty to forty bushels an acre on what we designate 'old ground,' that on which we have raised crops successively for several years, while on sod or fresh land, and on summer-fallowed land, we look for forty to fifty bushels per acre. Such estimates may vary a little in extremely favorable or unfavorable seasons.

The oats known as the White [variety] has given the best satisfaction, and the White [Oregon] and White [Bonanza] are also largely grown; all three are heavy oats, and the yield ranges from forty to one hundred bushels to the acre. Barley is grown in several varieties, one a six-rowed sort particularly known as white barley, adapted for brewing purposes; it yields from sixty to one hundred bushels per acre and has frequently yielded more than one hundred. The four-rowed variety is used for feed, and brings from ten to twenty bushels per acre as a commercial crop. Corn is grown, and its average yield is increasing as farmers become accustomed to the value of the crop.

The cost of producing wheat works out at about thirty cents a bushel, including the cost of sacks, which is an essential charge, as all our wheat is shipped from the seaboard sacked. Taxes, interest on the investment and such items would of course increase this cost of actual production.

Harvesting in Washington extends over a period corresponding to the time of seeding, commencing about the middle of July and lasting until the first of October, but the bulk of the work is done between August 1 and September 15. The 'header' is probably the most used of any cutting machine. It is an ingenious machine that works on the principle of a ship at sea, having a wheel for a rudder, and the driver standing over this rudder wheel acts the role of steersman or pilot. The four horses are divided into two teams and stand with the beam between them; the driver stands over the wheel on the beam, and the machine runs in front of the horses, so that at first sight the horses seem to be pushing instead of pulling. There are also a great many self-binders used and a few combined harvesters, which cut and thresh the grain as they go. These, however, are still looked upon as an experiment in Eastern Washington.

The wheat growers of our state are, of course, largely dependent on the European demand. Probably ninety per cent of our product is exported as wheat and flour, and fully seventy-five per cent is exported as wheat. The voyage from the coast ports to Liverpool or the average European port covers from 15,000 to 16,000 miles, probably the longest distance that grain is transported on earth. The ocean freight usually ranges from thirty to forty shillings per long ton, the average for the past three seasons being thirty-two shillings, which would amount to an average charge of 21 1-3 cents to take a bushel of wheat from Seattle to Liverpool, 16,000 miles or more — which is less than it now costs to haul 100 pounds of wheat from Pullman, in Whitman county, to Seattle, a distance of only 400 miles, or about one-fortieth of the longer freightage. Unless this grain country can have a material reduction in freight rates to the seaboard we will have to quit trying to raise grain for export. The railroads say they can't afford to carry it for any less, that they are operating at a loss, can't pay fixed charges, are in the hands of receivers, and so on. But if the water was squeezed out of their stock, and interest and dividends were only paid on actual values, they could sing a different tune; or if the salaries of their high officials were reduced to common-sense levels, something in proportion to the services rendered, they could mend matters for the producers along their lines. The producers in Eastern Washington are suffering from the highest passenger and freight tariffs in the United States, and something will soon have to be done for relief. I could go on for a long time on these railroad abuses, but I think I have said enough to show that the people are suffering from intolerable railroad tariffs.

Mixed farming is, of course, advisable, but it is not now practicable in our portion of the state. We can't even ship a majority of our fruit and vegetable crops to the Puget Sound cities, as the freight rates are prohibitory. California can ship at water freight rates and exclude the products of our farms, handicapped as we are with the high railroad rates. There was a potato crop grown in portions of this county this year, and for a time the railroad had a tariff on potatoes east that allowed their shipment and allowed the producer from forty to fifty cents per hundred pounds for his product; but the railroads abandoned the special rate, haul their cars back empty, and the potatoes will not bring more than the cost of production and sacking. On the other hand we have to pay a heavy freight on all the goods we buy and import from the east. I tell you it makes a fellow feel blue to think of these things. We can produce fine crops in Eastern Washington, and we would have there one of the most happy and prosperous communities in the country if we had transportation facilities furnished at fair rates; and I certainly hope the people of this state will soon come to realize this and demand the enactment of laws that will bring relief to the toiling farmers of our Inland Empire.