Central Sheep Growers Association Records

Collection

Identifier: Mss 249

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of the Central Sheep Growers Association consist of correspondence of the association’s secretary, W.F. Moore of Carrington, with the North Dakota association’s secretary, A.C. Bjerken, various forms and lists used by the association, association news letters from 1932 and a paper about organizing cooperatives. The correspondence in this collection address marketing schemes like “National Wool Week”, questions about the grading of wool, distributions of payment to the pool members, lost checks, the need for sheep growers to have any institution that hold mortgages on sheep to sign a marketing agreement with the association, and the tying technique that facilitates the best grading results. The collection also holds various types of paperwork used by the association including several lists of members of the wool pool, the weight of wool produced by specific members, the amount of the checks issued to producers and even the number of bags and amount of twine used to process the wool for shipment. Examples of the different forms used by the association are included. The “Uniform Strait Bill Of Lading” documents specific shipments of wool on the railroad. Other forms included are the “Satisfaction of Chattel Mortgage,” “Rider, To Be Attached to Marketing Agreement,” “Grading Report,” “Account Sales,” and “Wool Receipt.” There is also a list titled “Foster County Sheep Owners as to Assessors List for 1932” that shows how many sheep each producer owns. The collection holds three newsletters published in 1932 by the North Dakota Co-operative Wool Marketing Association titled Flickertail Wool Clippings. An article from the Grafton News and Times dated 1937 explains the importance of sheep farming to the North Dakota economy and is found in folder one of the collection. This collection has been organized into three series: Correspondence, Paperwork, and General. The Correspondence Series contains correspondence of the association’s secretary, W.F. Moore of Carrington with the North Dakota association’s secretary, A.C. Bjerken. These letters, which cover the time period from March 1930 to July 1934, reflect the focus of the association. These letters are concerned with the marketing schemes of the association, the grading of wool, distribution of payments, lost checks, the need for marketing agreements with mortgage holders, and the best techniques for tying bales of wool. The Paperwork Series contains forms and other paperwork connected with the association. Included are forms titled “Uniform Strait Bill Of Lading,” “Satisfaction of Chattel Mortgage,” “Rider to be Attached to Marketing Agreement,” “Grading Report,” “Account Sales,” and “Wool Report.” This series contains several lists. These lists document members of the wool pool, the weight of the wool produced, the amount of checks issued to wool producers, and even the bags and twine used in processing the wool for shipment by train. There is also a list from 1932 which documents the number of sheep owned by Foster County producers. The General Series contains three issues of Flickertail Wool Clippings, the newsletters published by the North Dakota Co-operative Wool Marketing Association. The issues are vol. 2, nos. 3-4, 6 and 11, all in 1932.

Dates

1930-1934

Creator

Moore, W. F. (William Frank), 1870-1935. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute does not hold the copyrights.

History

The Central Sheep Growers Association was one of twelve district organizations of the North Dakota Cooperative Wool Marketing Association. The incomplete records show that it was operating during the years 1930-1934 to cooperatively market the wool produced by sheep growers in central North Dakota. The Central Sheep Growers Association was based at Carrington, N.D., with W.F. Moore its primary contact person. No reference to the association could be found outside of the papers in this collection. Information about the organization’s operations before 1930 and after 1934 is unknown.