Opa Reads

Ralph hosts a celebration dinner for his closest friends in order to share good news regarding his debts, his health, and his engagement.

Ralph discovers a new diet that adds weight to his body, Dr. DeMay hypothesizes the cause for his diabetes, and Ralph once again pursues the love of his life.

Ralph makes a good profit in the butcher and railroad contract business, in his shipping business, and in a two second sheep trading business.

Effie advises Ralph on how to package and sell his meat and products, then takes the orders for him. Mr Donovan arrives to inspect the excellently built and maintained business, then introduces Ralph to the railroad steward/head cook.

Ralph and Nick implement the building plans for slaughter house and meat packing business. The hogs get set to ship in Saturday and Ralph is barely keeping up with so much to do.

Ralph and the bankers reach an agreement, Effie gets the line call out for mortgaged hogs to show up and be bought, and then he and George Miner grade the hogs as they get dropped off.

Ralph meets with success in Omaha, both in selling hogs and in getting the meat contract. Nick is hired to butcher the animals and Ralph negotiates the financing of his operation.

Ralph takes his hogs to Omaha and meets the railroad commissary agent to make a bid to provide meat to construction crews.

Ralph determined to recreate his mother’s Colorado sausage recipe, and he comes up with a plan to bid on the railroad’s butcher contract.

Ralph gets a vision for going into the butchering business when the railroad asks for bids to feed its crews.

Ralph went to trial and ended up owing over $13,000. Effie became his advocate and the neighbors all showed him great support at auction.

Beaver Creek is hit by such a flood that Ralph and Bob lose all their hogs and the entire property gets covered in water.

Ralph gets brought to court by the new bank owners, and he shared how he and Bob’s family worked hard to pull in the same direction.

Ralph and George walk Bob through bankruptcy so that he could get back on his feet.

Bob overextends himself with a new Buick and is exposed to his wife as irresponsible. Ralph helps the family through this trial and then he helps the township by honoring both his commitment to the bank and by his care for his neighbor’s need to retain good stock.

Ralph experiences panic and loss alongside most farmers in his part of the country because cattle and hog prices fell drastically. His shipment went out on Christmas Day 1920 and his work ethic continued to diverge from Bob’s.

Ralph sees the arrival of automobiles and trucks as spelling an end to his wheat hauling business, so he sold out by auction. He and Bob takes on more cattle and hogs, and Bones’ bank is sold to new management.

Bob goes to Kansas City with Ralph to sell cattle and hogs, and it is a good sale because they only lose $500 when the rest of the market is down 30%. George Miner explains his theory on the hog market cycle, and leaves Ralph to extrapolate his own conclusions about whether to put more cattle or hogs into the feed lot.

Ralph puts up with Bob’s fake back pain since Bob has the knowledge and skill to run a cattle and hog feed lot. Their business venture meant many cold days and nights for both of them.

Effie at the switchboard warns Ralph that she thinks any work alongside Bob Wilson is foolish. Bob and Ralph go on to buy all the steers and hogs they wish to buy, and Christmas Day is spent with the Wilson family.

Bob Wilson proves his poor character once again, and Ralph is willing to stand by him yet again…because of his little girl and wife.

Ralph has to hold the line in order to not go into business with a dishonest Bob Wilson. Ralph admits by the end of the chapter that he wasn’t 21 years old when he did his other work with the bank.

Bob Wilson’s poor work ethic and discipline is called out, and only George Miner is clever enough to find a way to lighten the scales so that Bob can’t profit from dishonesty.

Ralph learns the most by listening to George advise friends and farmers regarding cattle and hogs. Practical advice that Ralph will use to start his own herd.

Ralph learns about the shipping business from Bob Wilson, and he enjoys the hospitality of the Wilson family by staying with them during a week of culling out older animals.