A City Grain Buyer Says the Farmers Are Being Robbed — and That San Francisco Is Stealing Washington's Wheat

C. G. Austin of the wheat firm of C. G. Austin & Co. has returned from an extensive trip into Eastern Washington, Idaho and Oregon, and bought nearly half a million bushels of wheat for local and export trade. He reports wheat as selling readily at from 25 to 30 cents per bushel, which, however, is a ruinously low price for the growers. He says that nearly all the wheat is in the hands of bankers and merchants, and the farmers have no alternative but to accept just whatever they can get; under the circumstances the prices quoted are below all reason.

Describing his trip, Mr. Austin said last evening:

"While in the eastern part of the state I went through Douglas, Kittitas, Lincoln, Spokane, Whitman, Asotin, Garfield, Columbia, Walla Walla, Adams and Franklin counties, and Umatilla county in Oregon, and Latah and Nez Perce counties in Idaho. The wheat-growing districts in the eastern part of the state had a yield this year of about 19,000,000 bushels, and there was about 24,000,000 bushels immediately tributary to the Sound country. Whitman had the largest yield, producing about 6,000,000 bushels; Walla Walla county, 4,000,000; Columbia, 2,000,000; Spokane, 2,000,000; Asotin, 3,000,000; Garfield, 1,000,000; Adams, 500,000; Lincoln, 1,000,000; Franklin, 500,000; Douglas, 500,000; and Kittitas, 1,000,000. In Idaho, Latah county produced about 1,500,000 bushels and Nez Perce 500,000. In Oregon, Umatilla county produced about 3,000,000 bushels, being an excellent yield.

"The crop in Whitman county was an average one, although a good deal of the upper Palouse country suffered from the unusually wet weather which damaged the crops. I found the wheat in the poor country, in what is classed as the lighter districts, to be in many respects the best in both yield and quality. In lower Walla Walla and Columbia counties, in the lighter and less valuable land districts, the yield was excellent. In the foothills and on the richer levels the late spring kept the ground wet and the wheat was late in starting and did not stool well. In the Eureka Flat country, where the farmers get one crop in three, they are doing well; the yield was enormous and the wheat large and fine, proving the best milling wheat of the whole district and bringing the highest price. In this locality the average crop is ten bushels to the acre, and this year the yield was thirty bushels to the acre. The yield in the vicinity of Lewiston was also large, and I saw one lot of wheat of 30,000 bushels which was as fine milling wheat as ever any man saw.

"In the early part of this season most of the wheat went to San Francisco, the market there for it being better than anywhere else. They found some market for the damaged wheat of the upper Palouse country, and also disposed of a good deal of first-class milling wheat. I believe that the San Francisco people got some of the first-class Washington wheat and mixed it with the California wheat for export, selling it as 'California wheat,' which as the market stands brings an average price of 8 cents per hundred pounds over our wheat. California wheat is no finer or better than the wheat grown here, but they have the reputation down there and their wheat brings more than the Walla Walla wheat, as all the grain in this part of the country is erroneously called. As soon as the wheat here reaches California it loses its identity and becomes whatever the San Francisco merchant has a mind to call it. This could all be remedied by a grain inspector, and that is just what is needed, and the matter should come up for consideration before the next legislature. By this means we could build up our own grades according to their value, and there would be no other state getting the credit for all the best grain, to our injury and disadvantage."