f•4A H

GRAIN

GRADING

PRIMER

AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK NO. 59

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
THE Grain Grading Primer is designed for grain

farmers and country grain dealers who are interested in handling grain on a grade and quality basis

and for marketing students. It is not designed for

grain inspectors, for they must necessarily use a more

precise and detailed grain-grading technique than

that described herein.

A number of farm practices that lower the quality

and grade of grain are briefly discussed in this publication. Methods and apparatus useful in measuring

the value of grain are described and information on

how to inspect and grade grain is given.

This revision of the Primer covers changes in the

rye grades that became effective Jiily 1, 1951. The

new Malting grades for Hannchen and Hanna barley

are included in appendix I, and a new section on

grading procedures for each grain has been added as

appendix IL

The Handbook of Official (xrain Standards of the

United States, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C, at 25 cents a copy, and other

reference material listed on pages 59 and 60 of this

Primer will provide useful supplementary reading.

This manual is a slight revision of Miscellaneous

Publication 325.

V^ashington, D. C. Issued July 1953

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office

Washington 25, D. C. — Price 20 cents
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER

By Willis B. Combs, senior marketing specialist, Extension Service, and Fred G.

Smith, senior marketing specialist. Production and Marketing Administration

CONTENTS

Page

Development of grain grading 2

Early grain-grading practices 2

Federal legislation 2

Grain inspection under the

United States Grain Standards Act 3

Usefulness of grades in export

commerce 4

Benefits of standardization 4

Using the grades at country

points 4

Tests on which values in grain

are based 5

Obtaining the sample 5

Carlot, wagon, or truck lots 6

Bins and sacks 6

Grading procedure in general 7

Analytical portions 8

Classes and subclasses 10

Wheat classes 12

Subclasses and texture in wheat_ 16

Corn classes 17

Grain sorghums classes and subclasses 17

Oats, soybeans, and barley

classes 18

Malting barley subclass 18

Rye and flaxseed 20

Dockage testing 20

Wheat and rye dockage determined with hand sieves 22

Barley dockage determined with

hand sieves 23

Flaxseed dockage determination, 23

Grain sorghums dockage determination with hand sieves 24

Test weight per bushel 25

Shrunken and broken kernels in

wheat 26

Small and shrunken kernels in rye_ 27

Moisture testing 27

Electric moisture meter 27

Brown-Duvel moisture tester 28

Damaged kernels 28

Wheat kernel damage 29

Corn kernel damage 32

Flaxseed kernel damage 33

Soybean kernel damage 33

Sound cultivated oats and sound

barley 34

Damaged-kernel computation 34

Foreign material and related determinations 35

Corn: Cracked corn and foreign

material 35

Grain sorghums: Total cracked

kernels, foreign material, and.

other grains 35

Oats: Foreign material 35

Soybeans: Foreign material 36

Splits in soybeans 1 36

Page

Wheat and rye: Foreign material

other than dockage 36

General appearance as a grade

factor 37

Sample grade and distinctly lowquality grain 37

Stones and cinders 38

Wild bromegrass seeds 38

Odors in grain 38

Temperature 38

Grain unfit for mixing 39

Special grade designations 39

Blighted barley 42

Bright oats 42

Bright grain sorghums and

Bright Western barley 42

Discolored grain sorghums 42

Ergoty grain 42

Extra Heavy oats (all classes) 43

Fhnt corn 43

Flint and Dent corn 43

Garlicky wheat 43

Garlicky rye, barley, oats, soybeans, and Mixed Grain 44

Heavy oats (all classes) 44

Heavy Hard Red Spring wheat _ ^ 44

Medium Heavy oats (all classes) _ 44

Plump rye 44

Smutty wheat 45

Smutty rye, barley, oats, grain

sorghums, and Mixed Grain 46

Special Red oats 46

Stained Western barley 46

Test weight of Western barley _ „ 46

Thin oats 46

Tough grain 47

Two-rowed barley 47

Weevily grain 49

Apparatus for grading grain 49

Probes 52

Spout sampler or "pelican" 52

Moisture tester 52

Sample divider 52

Test - weight - per - bushel apparatus 52

Balances 52

Dockage tester 53

Sieves 54

Barley pearler 58

Increasing the value of grain 58

Further information 58

Literature cited 59

Offices of the Production and

Marketing Administration at

which grain inspection supervisors are located 60

Appendix I—Special Malting

Grades for Hannchen and Hanna

Barley 62

Appendix II—Quick reference chart

for grading procedures 64
2 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

DEVELOPMENT OF GRAIN GRADING

As the Mississippi Valley was gradually brought under cultivation

the surplus grain in increasing quantity moved eastward to consuming

centers and to the eastern seaboard by rail, lake, river, and canal.

There was need for a readily understandable commercial language to

express the class, quality, and condition of individual lots of grain

so that buyers and sellers at separate points could trade without a

personal examination of the grain itself or without an exchange of

samples. Grain trade organizations, therefore, instituted a system

of grain grading whereby grain could be bought and sold by grade

without having either the grain itself or samples of it before the interested parties.

Each trade organization adopted its own set of standards and its

own method of application. The grades themselves were set forth in

such ambiguous terms as "dry," "damp," "plump," "well-cleaned,"

"unsound," and "unmerchantable."

EARLY GRAIN-GRADING PRACTICES

In some markets different interests favored different kinds of grain

standards. The millers generally preferred high standards, wellmaintained, whereas other interests that made their profits mostly

from the volume of grain handled, frequently favored liberal standards, leniently applied for the sake of attracting shipments to their

market.

Persons buying grain under a certain designation in one market^had

little assurance that the grain would receive the same grade designation in some other market. Exporters who bought grain at interior

markets for delivery abroad had no way of knowing that the grain

bought by grade at interior points would be assigned the same grade

when loaded aboard ship for export. Millers hesitated to make future

contracts, to accept the grades of grain then specified. Sometimes

they refused to accept such deliveries because they had no confidence

in the way in which the standards had been applied. Indefinite grading and lack of confidence in grain grading had a strong tendency to

depress prices of grain sold by grade, especially for deliveries that

were to be made at some distant future date.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

For many years grain organizations tried to bring about a more

consistent application of uniform standards. Butthe results were disappointing. The lack of any effective agency to establish a single set

of standards for grain that would be applicable throughoutthe United

States and to insure uniform application, kept the grain-grading system defective during this period of localized and unrelated graminspection departments.

Foreign-trade organizations and individual receivers of American

grain filed complaints with the United States Government on account of the unsatisfactory condition of graded grain received from

American ports. But at that time the Federal Government had no

jurisdiction over the numerous State and commercial grain-inspection

departments operating throughout the country. In 1901 the United
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 3

States Department of Agriculture organized an investigational project for studying the structure of the commercial grain standards then

in effect and the methods by which they were applied. As a result, in

1913, permissive Federal standards for shelled corn were established,

¡öhortly afterward these standards were adopted by many grain-inspection departments even before the United States Grain Standards

Act was passed in 1916. But a serious lack of uniformity in the application of the standards continued.

The demand for uniform grades and inspection resulted in the introduction, in the Fifty-seventh to the Sixty-fourth Congresses, covering the years 1903 to 1916, of 26 different bills providing either for

Federal supervision of grain grading or for outright Federal grain

inspection. Extended hearings were held on several of these bills. The

United States Grain Standards Act was finally passed August 11,

1916.

The act provides in part for (1) the establishment of official grain

standards, (2) the Federal licensing and supervision of the work of

grain inspectors, and (3) the entertaining of appeals from the grades

assigned by the licensed inspectors. The Secretary of Agriculture is

authorized to make investigations and to establish Federal standards

for the most common grains. Federal standards under this act are now

in effect for wheat, corn, barley, oats, feed oats, mixed feed oats, rye,

grain sorghums, flaxseed, soybeans, and mixed grain (1^)}

GRAIN INSPECTION UNDER THE UNITED STATES GRAIN

STANDARDS ACT

The Grain Standards Act provides in part that all grain shipped

in interstate or foreign commerce to or from a point at which an inspector, licensed under the act, is located must be officially inspected

and graded if the grain be merchandised by grade. As most of the

grain that reaches any important grain market is moving in interstate

or foreign commerce by grade, it is necessary, for practical purposes,

that the grain inspectors hold Federal licenses to inspect and grade

grain.

Most of the licensed grain inspectors are employed by States or

trade organizations. They are paid salaries by the agencies that employ them. Some licensed inspectors work independently for fixed

fees, paid by those who request these services. No licensed grain

inspectors are employed by the Federal Government.

The grain-grading activities of all federally licensed grain inspectors

are supervised by Federal grain supervisors employed by the United

States Department of Agriculture and stationed at the important

grain markets. In the first instance, grain is graded by a licensed

grain inspector. Any person financially interested in the grade of any

lot of grain may appeal from the grade assigned to it by a licensed

inspector to the Secretary of Agriculture, through the local grain

supervisor.

The provisions for uniform grain standards, the general supervision

by the Federal Government of grain inspection, and the provision for

appeals to Federal agents afford protection as to correct grading to all

handlers of grain who wish to avail themselves of these services.

^ ItaHc numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, pp. 59 and 60.
4 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

USEFULNESS OF GRADES IN EXPORT COMMERCE

Since the Grain Standards Act has been in effect much grain exported from the United States has been sold on the basis of the official

standards, evidenced by inspection certificates issued under the act.

When grain is sold by grade and on the basis of "United States certificate final," all questions as to the grade of the grain delivered are

settled when the grain is graded for export. The exporter is not

required to assume any further risk from arbitration or from any

subsequent grading.

BENEFITS OF STANDARDIZATION

Grain grading permits the great economy of bulk storage and transportation of grain of similar grades. It facilitates financing and

trading on the basis of warehouse certificates representing grain of

known quality and value. It establishes loan values for grain in

farm storage.

Grain grading, and market quotations based on grade, assist producers and handlers of grain to market their grain advantageously.

The application of the grain standards shows the causes for market

discounts and indicates ways and means for crop-improvement and

grain-handling practices that will bring about a reduction of certain

"off" grades of preventably low quality.

Grain standards function as commercial measures of qualitv and

condition. They assist in the economical marketing of grain because

their use reduces risks and promotes definite agreements between

contracting parties.

S. J. Duly, of the City of London College, who has made a special

study of the grain trade and is a recognized authority on grain merchandising, comments on the benefits of standardization on page 83

of his book, entitled ''Grain" (S), as follows:

The advantages of the grading system are many. It is essentiaUy a farmer's

system. It is his safeguard. Grading takes place in the country of production

and it provides the required incentive to the farmer to farm weU, since he has

the assurance that his return wiU be determined by the quality of his crop. His

grading certificate provides him with bank credit immediately. Then grading

is the absolute prerequisite of bulk handling. If grain is not graded, it cannot

be bulked with other grain, but must retain its identity and be sampled frequently for selling purposes. The immense economy of the terminal storage

system is only possible after dependable grading. Next, it provides the basis

upon which organized marketing with future sales and hedging alone becomes

possible. This forms the most economic machinery for financing the crop,

paying cash to the farmer months before the grain is exported, holding it, transporting it, and getting it to the miller. Finally, it provides the last buyer with

a standard article upon which he may depend, in the same manner that buyers

depend on the trade-mark of manufactured goods of reputable firms.

The main disadvantage from the point of view of a European buyer is the impossibility of disputing the grade and securing arbitration upon questions of

quality or condition when once the grain is sold on grade for shipment abroad. It

thus appears to be essentially a system of an exporting country. It only becomes

a possible international system on certificate final terms when experience shows

(as it does) that the grading in the exporting country is entirely dependable.

USING THE GRADES AT COUNTRY POINTS

Most country shippers try to pay premium prices for grain of superior quality. The difficulties encountered in attempting to purchase
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 5

inferior grades at a discount are admitted. To buy grain fairly it is

necessary to recognize its quality at the time the purchase is made.

It is almost a necessity that country grain dealers be able to grade

grain.

Country grain dealers and farmers insist, and rightly so, that grain

standards be plain and simple so that it will be possible to apply them

at country points. The official standards, however, must be extensive

enough to cover all the various classes and qualities of grain everywhere in the united States. But at most country points only a limited

number of grades are produced and handled in any one season.

In striving for quick and easy methods care must be taken not to

reduce the grading to mere guessing. For most determinations of

quality the only practical procedure is to secure grading equipment

and make the tests in the same manner that is followed by experienced

grain inspectors.^ The standard methods for grading grain, worked

out as a result of long experience in grain inspection organizations,

are not complicated or involved, and are practical of application. It is

these standard methods on which the material in this publication is

TESTS ON WHICH VALUES IN GRAIN ARE BASED

Some of the tests of grain quality that producers and consumers have

always considered important are tests for plumpness, soundness,

cleanliness, dryness, purity of type, and the general condition of the

grain.

Plumpness is measured by the weight-per-bushel test, supplemented

by sizing tests for some grains. Soundness is indicated by the absence

of musty, sour, or commercially objectionable foreign odors and by the

quantity of damaged kernels that are present in the grain. Cleanliness

is measured by determining the foreign-matter content. Dryness is

determined by making a moisture test. Purity of type is provided for

by classes for the various grains and by limitations for admixtures of

other grains or of other classes of the same grain.

"Condition" is a general term and refers to whether the grain is in

sound condition or is out of condition because it is musty, sour, or

heating. Condition is also indicated by such designations as "smutty,"

"garlicky," "weevily," "bright," "stained," "tough," or "treated."

These terms describe various conditions in which grain is sometimes

found.

An explanation of the class, quality, and condition factors and how

they are applied in practical grain inspection is the principal objective

of this publication.

OBTAINING THE SAMPLE

The first essential step in grading grain is to obtain a correct and

representative sample of the lot of grain to be graded. The basic

instructions issued by the United States Department of Agriculture

on this subject provide for a sample of not less than approximately

2 quarts in size.^

^ Grain Inspectors' Manual. United States Department of Agriculture, Production and Marketing Administration, Grain Branch. 175 pp. 1942. [Processed.]
MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

CARLOT, WAGON, OR TRUCK LOTS

In the case of bulk grain ir a car, truck, or wagon, or in any other

container in which the grain is about the same depth as in a carload, the

sample is taken with a double-tube compartment trier 62% inches long

(see fig. 15, A, p. 51) by probing flaxseed in seven or more places and

all other kinds of grain in five or more places, well-distributed in different parts of the car, truck, or other container. In the discretion of

the sampler as many more probings as may be necessary are to be taken

from the grain in different parts of the lot.

As each probe of grain is drawn, the grain is emptied upon a canvas

for examination (fig. 1). If after examination of the separate probes,

no material portion of the grain is found to be distinctly inferior to

the remainder of the grain, the grain from the separate probes is combined as an average sample of the grain involved. If the time to elapse

•>i- j^^d» -SBS?«v- «,*,«»

PMA 11338

FIGURE 1.—A sampler emptying the grain from a probe upon a canvas for careful

examination regarding mixtures, odors, and evenness of loading.

between the drawing of the sample and the determination of grade

would permit of such changes in the condition of the sample as to affect

the grade, a representative portion of at least 1% pints of the grain

should be enclosed in an airtight container. At country elevators a

pail with a tight cover to hold the entire sample is often used for an

airtight container.

In the Pacific Northwest a sampler for cutting the grain stream as it

falls from a truck has been developed.

BINS AND SACKS

In the case of bulk grain in bins and warehouses where the depth of

the grain is so great as not to permit thorough probing with a trier

of either standard or special length, or where conditions make it

hazardous for a person to enter the bin, such grain should be trans-
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 7

ferred and samples taken from a falling stream of grain pouring into

or from such bin. Samples from the falling stream are taken with a

device known as a spout sampler or "pelican" (see fig. 16, p. 53) or

with any other device that gives equivalent results.

In the case of grain in sacks, samples are drawn from as many individual sacks, selected at random throughout the lot, as will enable

the sampler to procure a representative sample of the entire lot. The

samples are taken by any approved trier of sufficient length to reach

the center of the sack (see fig. 15, G^ p. 51).

GRADING PROCEDURE IN GENERAL

In the commercial grading of grain the lot as a whole is examined

at the time of sampling for the condition factors of temperature and

odor, infestation of live weevils, and any other noticeable factor not

requiring a detailed analysis. When the samples are brought to the

inspection office, dockage tests, weight-per-bushel tests, and moisture

tests are usually made first. Further analysis is made for such grading

factors as a careful examination of the sample indicates may be important. In making further tests a representative portion of the

sample is taken from either the mechanically cleaned grain or from

the sample as a whole, as governed by the basis of determination of

the standards.

Identification:

^^^^^^' analysis Grade ^

Temperature (heating)

Odor (musty, sour, commercially objectionable

foreign odors)

Weevils

Dockage percent-_

Class

Subclass

Other classes percent, _

Test weight pounds..

Total damaged percent. _

Heat-damaged percent. _

Blighted percent..

Foreign material percent. _

Matter except other grains percent. _

Moisture (tough, sample grade) percent..

Garlicky (light garlicky, garlicky)

Smutty (light smutty, smutty)

Appearance 2

Special 3

Miscellaneous

This column will show the grade for each factor tested. The final erade

appearing on the inspection certificate, is not the average of these grades but is

the lowest grade appearing m the column. For example: A lot of wheat might

damfld'^W^^^^^^ ^^ •î^""^.^*^^" ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^«^^^i^ 2 percent ofS: damaged kernels, and hence will grade No. 5.

and t^eatTd""^^ includes special grades for bright, stained, bleached, discolored,

3 Special includes special grades for flint, two-rowed, and thin.

892545°—50 2
8 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

The beginner should have a chart or a form somewhat like the one

5hown herewith to record his findings, based on his analyses and other

observations. When the analyses are finished, the grader ascertains

the grade of the grain by comparing the results of the analyses and

other tests with the requirements of the standards for the kind of

grain being graded.

It is impracticable in this publication to enumerate all the details

of how to grade samples of all the grains, because in some instances

the grader must determine several factors, whereas in other cases

only one or two determinations may be necessary. This circumstance

may be illustrated by a damp sample of pure white corn which is

clean and which contains only a few damaged kernels. In this instance it is obvious that the grader need only determine the percentage

of moisture to ascertain the true grade of the corn.

As a further illustration, after the dockage has been removed in

grading wheat, it is frequently unnecessary to make more determinations than the weight-per-bushel test. Any additional testing or

analyses made on such samples would merely furnish supplemental

information without having any effect upon the grade.

In the actual grading of commercial grain the experienced grader

has a great advantage over the beginner in accomplishing more and

better work with less effort, because he knows from a general examination of the sample what factor or factors he should determine and

what factors he may disregard. To become an efficient grader of

grain the beginner should follow an orderly procedure so that he

may not overlook any of the factors that may indicate one of the

lower grades.

At this point it may be well to state that in assigning the higher

grades to grain, caution must be used because the factors in the

higher numerical grades of all grain have much smaller tolerances

than the factors in the lower grades. On the other hand, in the

lower grades there is usually one outstanding factor that will degrade any given lot or parcel of grain, and in such cases the other

factors have no effect whatever upon the grade that is to be assigned

to the grain.

ANALYTICAL PORTIONS

In the standard grain-inspection procedure all determinations that

are based on fractional parts of a sample are made on standard-sized

portions (table 1) cut from the sample by means of the Boerner divider

(fig. 2). When the grade of any lot of grain is determined by a narrow margin, on a single grading factor, another determination is

made on an additional portion and the grade is based on the average

of the two determinations.

All percentages, except moisture, are percentages by weight. Percentages based on count would be inaccurate. Balances similar to

those illustrated in figure 17 are essential.

Tables for converting the weights of mechanical separations ol

grain into percentages, given in Department of Agriculture Circular

No. 623, are convenient for use in connection with any determinations based on mechanical analysis (S).
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER

PMA 15600

FIGURE 2.—Boerner divider used for separating grain samples into representative portions.
10 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S, DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

TABLE 1.—Minimum quantity of grain in analytical portions recommended for inspection work

[Quantities in grams (metric) unless otherwise stated]

Determination for— Wheat Corn Oats Rye Barley

Grain

sorghums

Flaxseed

Soybeans

Blight - -_ - 30

Class - -- 25 30

25

250 25 25 125

CioloT* and texture

Cracked corn and forpiffn material ^ MH

T)onkaffe ^ nys

250

50

1,000

50

50

250

50

1,000

30

50

250

30

500

6 50

30

6 50

^M/s

Ergot

'"250

250

250

30

500

30

30

Foreign material 125

Heat damage

Kind of grain

IVÍpllnAAT

50

50

20

25 ""Î25

IVTnTicrmiTi «¡nrchiims 50

Shrunken and/or

broken kernels:

All classes (except

Durum and Red

Durum)

Durum and Red

Durum

250

7 50

'

,

'lYs 250 («)

30

500

SlrinnfiH fin H l^rnkpn

Smnf 250

500

500 250 250

Smut dockage

30 30

Splits 125

Stones and cinders

Total damaged 50 250

' 1/8

30

' 1/8

30

30

M/s

' 1/8

30

M/s

50 2Ö ' 1/8

125

Weevil ' 1% M/s ' 1%

30

M/s ' 1/8 ' 1/8

VV UQ oatb

1 Refers to ''total cracked kernels, foreign material, and other grains" for grain

2 50 grams of sieve-cleaned grain are also hand-picked for additional foreign

material and other grains. , . . i / ^ . - ^ ^.^

3 A sufficient quantity is used to provide at least l>i quarts of gram tor the

weight-per-bushel test.

ß At least 15 grams of sieve-cleaned grain are also hand-picked for additional

.dockage material.

6 Weight before pearling. . . j u

7 In Durum and Red Durum wheat the sievmg operation is supplemented by

hand picking of the broken kernels that do not pass through the sieve.

* One-fourth of dockage-free sample.

CLASSES AND SUBCLASSES

There is no mechanical test for determining the class to which any

particular lot of grain belongs. Identification of the different classes

of grain depends almost entirely upon the grader's knowledge o± and

familiarity with the different kinds of grain that come under his ob-
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 11

Servation. Color, kernel texture, and variety characters are helpful

indexes in determining the class or subclass of many of the grains.

Table 2 shows the classification of all the grains for which standards

have been established under the provisions of the United States Grain

Standards Act.

TABLE 2.—Classesj subclasses, and areas of production

Grain and class Subclass

WHEAT:

Hard Red Spring wheat

Grown principally in Minnesota, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Montana, a little in western

Kansas and western Nebraska, in restricted

areas in the Mississippi Valley, and to a lesser

degree in the intermountain and north Pacific

coast areas.

Durum wheat

Grown principally in North Dakota, South

Dakota, and Montana; also in small scattered

areas on the Great Plains.

Red Durum wheat

Grown principally in North Dakota, South

Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming.

Hard Red Winter wheat_^

Grown principally in States west of Mississippi

River, and to a minor extent north of the Ohio

River in Illinois and Indiana.

Soft Red Winter wheat

Grown principally east of the Great Plains and

south of Wisconsin. Scattered areas in Texas,

Oklahoma, Kansas, and northwest Pacific

Coast States.

White wheat

Grown principally in the Pacific Coast States,

Michigan, northern Ohio, and New York.

(White Club is grown principally in Pacific

Coast States and in Utah and Idaho.)

Mixed wheat (classified as Mixed wheat. Amber

Mixed Durum, or Mixed Durum)

CORN:

Grown principally between Allegheny and Rocky

Mountains.

White corn.

Yellow corn.

Mixed corn.

BARLEY:

Barley (class I)

Grown east of the Rocky Mountains.

Western barley

Grown west of the Great Plains region.

Black barley

Very small scattered production.

Mixed barley

OATS: 1

White oats

Grown generally throughout the United States

but mostly in the northern half.

Red oats

Grown mostly south of the Ohio River and in

Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

(A) Dark Northern Spring.

(B) Northern Spring.

(C) Red Spring.

(A) Hard Amber Durum.

(B) Amber Durum.

(C) Durum.

(A) Dark Hard Winter.

(B) Hard Winter.

(C) Yellow Hard Winter.

(A) Red Winter.

(B) Western Red.

(A) Hard White.

(B) Soft White.

(C) White Club.

(D) Western White.

(A) Malting.

(B) Barley. '

1 In addition to the standards for oats,

Feed oats and Mixed Feed oats.

standards have been established for
12 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

TABLE 2.—Classes, subclasses, and areas ofproduction—Continued

Grain and class Subclass

OATS—continued

Gray oats

Black oats

Grown in scattered areas and the production is

small.

Mixed oats

RYE:

Grown principally in North Dakota, South Dakota

Minnesota, and eastward and north of Ohio

River.

GRAIN SORGHUMS:

Grown principally in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,

and California.

White Grain sorghums

Yellow Grain sorghums ^

Red Grain sorghums

Brown Grain sorghums

Mixed Grain sorghums

FLAXSEED:

Grown principally in Minnesota, North Dakota,

South Dakota, California, and in a few Midwestern States.

SOYBEANS:

Grown principally in the Corn Belt States

Yellow soybeans.

Green soybeans.

Brown soybeans.

Black soybeans.

Mixed soybeans.

MIXED GRAIN:

Usually caused by mechanical mixtures but sometimes by planting or by volunteer growths.

(A) White Kafir.

(B) White Durra.

(C) White Grain sorghums.

(A) Yellow Milo.

(B) Yellow Grain sorghums.

(A) Red Kafir.

(B) Red Grain sorghums.

WHEAT CLASSES

There are seven classes of wheat, namely : Class I, Hard Red Spring

wheat; class II, Durum wheat; class III, Eed Durum wheat; class IV,

Hard Red Winter wheat ; class V, Soft Red Winter wheat; class VI,

White wheat; and class VII, mixed wheat. The official standards

provide that wheat of any class, except Mixed wheat, may contain not

over 10 percent of wheat of a different class or classes either singly or

combined.

When grain inspection was first established the varieties of wheat

were few compared with the number now prevailing in different localities. Earlier classification of wheat was comparatively simple. Flour

mills, for example, did not then make the specialty flours that the

baking trade now requires. Now grain standards must provide diverse classifications to meet variations in quality arising from numerous grain varieties and production conditions, as well as to meet the

diverse requirements of grain users.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 13

Hard Red Spring wheat aiid Hard Red Winter wheat are especially

snited for the making of bread flour. These two wheats contain a

large quantity of strong elastic gluten—an essential element in making

a bread that meets the public favor in the United States.

Durum wheat is used for making semolina that is especially suited

for the manufacture of macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, and other alimentary pastes. The principal use for Red Durum wheat is for

poultry and stock feed.

Soft Red Winter and White wheat flours, both usually low in protein content, are specially suited for making pastry, crackers, biscuits

and cakes, and similar products. The suitability of new wheat variePMA 9661

FIGURE 3.—Baking laboratory in the United States Department of Agriculture

where wheat is tested experimentally to ascertain its value for bread or

pastry making.

ties for various purposes is determined by milling and baking tests

(%• 3).

When gaining experience in recognizing the classes of commercial

wheat, useful information may be had from variety names and time

of planting. In places where proper classification of grain is difficult, it wilfbe helpful to the beginner to obtain samples of the different

classes of such grain from reliable sources that can vouch for the class.

Department of Agriculture Circular 861 (6) lists the principal commercial varieties of wheat grown in the United States by classes and in

the order of their estimated acreage in 1949.

Hard Red Spring: Mida, Thatcher, Rival, Ceres, Rescue, Marquis,

(kdet. Pilot.
14 MISC. PUBLICATION 3 2 5, TJ. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Durum : Mindum, Stewart, Carleton, Kubanka.

Ked Durum: Pentad (D-5).

Hard Eed Winter : PaAvnee, Comanche, Triumph, Turkey, Wichita,

Tenmarq, Westar, Blackhull, Cheyenne, Early Blackhull, Nebred,

Red Chief, Yogo, Karmont.

Soft Red Winter : Thorne, Clarkan, Fairfield, Redhart, Vigo, Fultz,

Fulcaster, Trumbull, Kawvale.

White : Yorkwin, Elgin, Federation, Baart, Rex, Goldcoin, Golden.

Hard Red

Spring

6

Hard Red

Winter

RED WHEATS

Red Winter Western Red

e

FiGUKE 4.—Tyiiical kernels in red wheats.

PMA 11108

Kernel shapes that are characteristic of typical varieties in the several wheat classes are illustrated in figures 4 and 5. Note especially

the relative size and shape of the germs, the appearance of the crease—

whether open or tightly closed—and the outline of the kernel from both

the side and top views.

There are some fairly constant characteristics in kernel shapes. For

example, fully developed Durums are pointed sharply at the germ

end and are widest back of the center of the kernel; most other wheats

are widest near the germ. The crease in Durums is tightly closed and

the seed coat over the germ is not as wrinkled as in other classes. The

White class, of which two subclasses are shown in figure 5, is always

yellowish white or tannish in color, the germs are large and the creases

are wide open. The Soft Red Winter class, of which two subclasses

are shown in figure 4, is generally characterized by soft texture, large
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 15

germs, open creases with rounded cheeks, and a red or yellowish red

color.

The Hard Red Winter class (fig. 4) is represented by slender elliptical kernels, with a small germ, and tightly closed crease. When viewed

from the side the bottom line of the kernel is relatively straight or

slightly rocker in outline. The Hard Red Spring class (fig. 4) is represented by short kernels, usually hard and vitreous, and dark red in

color. The germ is midsized, the crease deep and open, and the kernels

have a prominent hump near the germ at one side of the center line of

the back.

WHITE AND DURUM WHEATS

Western

White

Soft White Durum Red Durum

âH

I

PMA 11107

FiGUBB 5.—Typical kernels in white and durum wheats.

The foregoing brief general description of wheat classes does not

apply in all respects to some of the more recent wheat varieties, resulting from crossing varieties of different classes. A competent inspector,

in addition to knowing the general characteristics of wheat classes,

must be familiar with certain variety characteristics. For example,

Minturki, Michikof, Purkof, lobred, Tenmarq, and Mosida are classified as Hard Red Winter wheats, yet in one or more respects they

closely resemble wheats in other classes with which they are sometimes

confused ; Triplet and Kawvale are two Red Winter wheats of uncertain kernel characteristics and cannot always be distinguished from

wheats in the Hard Winter class. To properly classify these wheats

requires experience and study (5). The country grain dealer has

the advantage of being in the producing area and has other means of

identification than kernel characteristics. His difficulties should not

8»2545°~50-
16 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

be as great as they would be if he were handling grain in a large

terminal market that draws grain from many different producing

areas.

In the inspection procedure for determining class in wheat, the

dockage is first removed (see p. 20 for method) and then a representative portion, of approximately 25 grams, is weighed. Any kernels

that are distinctly of another class are separated from the predominating class, and the percentage of other classes, if any, is determined

by weight. In addition to the limitation of 10 percent of wheats of

other classes in all classes except Mixed wheat, there are special

numerical grade limitations for wheat of other classes for all of the

classes of wheat except Mixed and Red Durum. The experienced

grader makes this latter determination with the same separation

described in this paragraph.

SUBCLASSES AND TEXTURE IN WHEAT

Texture in wheat refers to the hardness or softness of the kernels,

which qualities in turn are indications of the glutinous or starchy

character of the kernels. In the case of the common wheats, any

wheat that consists principally of hard kernels usually has a comparatively high quantity of protein and is well-adapted for bread-making

purposes ; and any wheat that consists principally of starchy kernels

usually has a comparatively low-protein content and is best adapted

for biscuit- and pastry-making purposes. In the case of Durum wheat

(not Red Durum), any wheat that consists principally of hard and

vitreous kernels of desired amber color is well adapted for the

manufacture of high-quality semolina flour.

Texture is specified in the wheat standards in terms of "dark, hard,

and vitreous kernels" in the case of Hard Red Spring and Hard Red

Winter Wheats, in terms of "hard (not soft and chalky) kernels" in

the case of White wheat, and in terms of "hard and vitreous kernels

of amber color" in the case of Durum wheat.

The classes. Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter, White, and Durum

are each divided into subclasses, all but one of which is wholly or

largely based on texture.

The texture specifications in the standards for wheat provide a practical means for making estimates of the protein content in wheat when

chemical tests are not available.

Hard Red Winter and Hard Red Spring subclasses.—A representative portion of approximately 25 grams of the dockage-free wheat

is taken in determining subclass. In Hard Red Winter and in Hard

Red Spring wheat the kernels are separated into dark, hard, and

vitreous kernels and kernels that are not dark, hard, and vitreous.

Any wheat kernels that are starchy or that have any starchy spots are

not considered to be dark, hard, and vitreous. Bleached kernels otherwise hard and vitreous are considered as dark, hard, and vitreous

kernels.

Durum subclasses.—^To decide the subclass to which any lot oi

common Durum wheat belongs, a 25-gram portion of the dockage-free

wheat is taken and analyzed for texture. In making the separation,

any kernel that is not amber in color or any kernel that is starchy or

that has a starchy spot on it is not considered to be "hard and vitreous

and of amber color."
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 17

Red Durum.—There are no subclasses of Eed Durum.

Amber Mixed Durum and Mixed Durum.—The standards for

Mixed wheat provide for two special classifications known as Amber

Mixed Durum and Mixed Durum. In both of these classifications there

are special limitations for wheat other than Durum and especially for

Red Durum, White, and Soft Eed Winter wheats. These classifications provide for the superior mixtures of Durum with other classes

of wheat.

Soft Red Winter subclasses.—Soft Eed Winter wheat grown west

of the Great Plains region is included in the subclass Western Eed.

All other Soft Eed Winter wheats containing not in excess of 10 percent of Western Eed are included in the subclass Eed Winter.

White Wheat subclasses.—^The class White wheat is divided into

four subclasses {12). For determining the subclass of White wheat,

the wheat in some cases is analyzed on the basis of texture and in other

cases on the basis of variety characteristics.

The texture requirements for all the subclasses of the above classes

of wheat, and the special limitations of certain variety types in subclasses, are given under the respective wheat classes in the Handbook

of Official Grain Standards of the United States {12).

CORN CLASSES

Color in corn has become increasingly important in that many food

products are made from this grain, in the manufacture of white corn

meal, white corn grits, and corn flakes a very small percentage of

kernels other than white will somewhat affect the color of the product.

Yellow corn produces dark-colored corn flakes.

A mixture of white corn in yellow corn is not so objectionable as a

mixture of the same proportion of yellow corn in white corn.

Classes of corn are based entirely upon color, namely, class I,

Yellow corn ; class II, White corn ; and class III, Mixed corn. A slight

tinge of red on otherwise yellow kernels does not affect their classification as Yellow corn, nor does a slight tinge of light straw color or of

pink on kernels that are otherwise white affect their classification as

White corn. Kernels that are deep red, blue, striped, or variegated

in color are considered as being neither yellow nor white, and are

therefore classified as Mixed corn. A mixture of more than 5 percent

of kernels other than yellow in Yellow corn, and a mixture of more than

2 percent of kernels other than white in White corn, causes the corn to

be classified as Mixed corn.

To make the test for color in the determination for class of corn, a

representative portion of not less than 250 grams from which the

cracked corn and foreign material has been separated, is used.

GRAIN SORGHUMS CLASSES AND SUBCLASSES

There are five classes of grain sorghums, all of which are based

on color. Subclasses are provided for the classes White, Yellow, and

Eed. The mostimportant of these subclasses are based on kernel types.

The determinations for class and subclass are made on the basis of not

less than a 25-gram portion of the grain when free from dockage and

when free from that part of the "cracked kernels, foreign material, and

other grains" which can be removed readily by the use of the small

buckwheat sieve. If there appear to be mixtures of different grain
18 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

sorghums present, the above portion is separated into its component

parts and the separations are weighed and the percentage of each

computed,

OATS, SOYBEANS, AND BARLEY CLASSES

Oats are classified by color, as white, red, gray, black, or mixed, and

soybeans as yellow, green, black, brown, and mixed. The black

(glumes) barley (class II) is placed in a separate class from the white

(glumes) barley. The latter, however, is classified by areas of production. Barley (class I) being that grown east of the Eocky Mountains and Western Barley (class III) being that grown west of the

Great Plains region.

MALTING BARLEY SUBCLASS^

The specifications of the Malting Barley subclass limit the admixture of certain kinds of barley which are considered undesirable in

barley intended for the malting process. Uniformity of size and good

maturity are also desirable in malting barley. In the malting process

the grain is germinated. Heat-damaged, blight-damaged, and skinned

kernels decrease the germination and lower the quality of the malt.

All of the specifications in the malting subclass are based on the sample

after the removal of dockage, and in some cases after pearling. The

full requirements for the subclasses are given in the Handbook of

Official Grain Standards. The inspection procedure for making the

determinations for the subclass Malting Barley are given below.

Sizing to determine Malting Barley.—The subclass Malting Barley may not contain more than 15 percent of barley or other matter that

will pass through a 20-gage metal sieve with slotted perforations

0.076 (4%/64)oi an inch wide by % inch long. All sieves should

be checked periodically for accuracy. (See discussion under sieves,

p. 54.) In making the sieving test for Malting Barley, a representative portion of approximately one-fourth of the dockage-free barley

is sieved with a hand sieve having perforations as described above.

In sizing, the sieve is held level and so that the grain will move lengthwise of the slots. The barley is then moved 30 times (left to right

and return) from side to side across the sieve in a steady manner.

AH barley and other material that passes through the slotted sieve is

then weighed and the percentage is computed. If the thin barley and

foreign material that pass through the sieve are not in excess of 15

percent, the barley is classified as Malting Barley insofar as this

determination applies.

In trade terms the barley removed in this test is known as "undersized." This barley is not plump enough for malting barley.

When a mechanical divider is not available, the entire sample should

be sieved—approximately 225-gram portions being sieved at a time.

Testing for mellow barley kernels.—The standards provide that

Malting Barley shall contain 75 percent or more of mellow barley

kernels which kernels are not semisteely as a whole. Mellowness has

reference to starchiness. To determine the percentage of mellow

barley in any parcel of barley of the class Barley, a portion of approximately 50 grams of the dockage-free barley should be placed in

a pearling machine (fig. 6) and be subjected to the pearling process

^ The discussion on the next three pages refers to the Malting subclass of

"eastern" barley. The new special Malting grades for Hannchen and Hanna

barley are discussed on page 62.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 19

from 2 to 3 minutes. The pearled barley is then freed from dust and

hulls by being sieved, after which the pearled kernels are weighed.

All the white and gray-colored kernels that appear to be 10 or more

percent starchy in texture are classified as mellow kernels. All pearled

kernels ranging in color from a distinct tinge to a pronounced shade

of green or blue and which appear to be 50 percent or more starchy in

texture are also classified as mellow kernels. On the basis of the

weight of the pearled kernels (not the weight of the original sample

before being pearled) the percentage of mellow kernels is computed.

Skinned and broken kernels in barley.—Skinned and broken kernels are objectionable in barley intended for malting purposes, as such

kernels do not germinate satisfactorily. Broken kernels in barley

are removed in preparing barley for malting, and they cause production losses in the pearling industry.

PMA 15612

FIGURE 6.—Bai'ley pearler. Tliis apparatus removes the hulls from barley

kernels, exposing the endosperm for examination.

The breaking of wheat kernels and the skinning and breaking of

barley kernels can be avoided to a large extent by careful threshing.

The adjustment and speed of the cylinder, the number and setting of

concaves, and the rate of feeding as well as other mechanical adjustments all aifect the breaking or skinning of the threshed grain. The

moisture in the unthreshed grain changes throughout the day, which

makes necessary the adjustment of the machine at regular intervals

to avoid damaging the barley kernels.

The standards for barley provide a 5-percent maximum limit of

skinned and broken kernels in the subclass Malting Barley, but provide more lenient maximum grade limits for broken kernels only,
20 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

in the subclass Barley and in the other classes of barley. (See Handbook of Official Grain Standards (i^).) A skinned kernel of barley

is any kernel of barley that has at least one-third of the husk removed, or which has the husk loosened or removed over the germ.

A broken kernel of barley is one that is broken, regardless of the

extent or the size of the pieces. A portion of approximately 30 grams

of the dockage-free barley is used for making this determination. In

the grading of Malting Barley, the skinned and broken kernels, separated by hand from the sample being tested, are weighed and the

percentage is computed.

Damaged barley.—Damaged barley consists of kernels and pieces

of kernels of barley which are damaged or materially discolored by

blight and/or mold, or which are heat-damaged, sprouted, frosted,

badly ground-damaged, badly weather-damaged, or otherw^ise materially damaged. The official standards for barley provide a 4-percent

limit of damaged barley in the subclass Malting Barley. To determine the percentage of damaged barley a 30-gram portion of dockagefree barley is analyzed.

Unsuitable malting types.—The standards allow a tolerance of 5

percent of two-rowed and/or other types or varieties of barley of

unsuitable Malting type such as Trebi and Black, in the subclass Malting Barley. To determine the percentage of such barley approximately 30 grams of dockage-free barley are analyzed and the percentage is computed.

Other subclass requirements for Malting Barley.—In addition to

the foregoing requirements, barley in the Malting subclass must meet

the requirements of the numerical grades Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the

class Barley. Bleached barley is excluded from the Malting Barley

subclass.

RYE AND FLAXSEED

There is only one class of rye and one of flaxseed, and there are no

subclasses.

DOCKAGE TESTING

The Federal standards for wheat, rye, barley, flaxseed, and grain

sorghums provide for a determination of dockage. Dockage in wheat,

rye, and barley may be defined as the foreign material in any of these

grains which can be removed readily by appropriate sieves and cleaning devices, and undeveloped, shriveled, and small pieces of grain

removed in properly separating the foreign material which cannot be

recovered by proper rescreening or recleaning. Dockage in flaxseed,

in addition to the sieved dockage, includes all foreign material remaining in the sample. In the case of grain sorghums the dockage consists

only of the material that will pass through a prescribed sieve.

Some of the dockage material (such as other grains and wild oats)

is valuable for feed but most of the dockage is worthless. Much of

the material, like green weed seeds or finely broken grains or fine

dust, contributes toward the grain heating or becoming musty, unless

the grain is exceptionally dry.

A machine known as the Carter dockage tester (fig. 18) is used in

the determination of dockage and in certain cases the cleaning oper-
PMA 9616

FIGURE 7.—Some of the sieves used to supplement the dockage tester in determining dockage and for removing certain kinds of foreign

material from grain ; A, Corn sieve vyith round-hole perforations i%4 inch in diameter ; B, small buckwheat sieve with triangular perforations the inscribed circles of which are %4 inch in diameter ; C, small chess sieve with slotted perforations 0.064 by % inch ; D,

large chess sieve with slotted perforations 0.070 by % inch ; E, fine-seed sieve with round-hole perforations %2 inch in diameter ;

F, bottom pan. ,

O

ta

o

a

>

ö

o

a

bO
22 MISC. PUBUCATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

ation of this machine is supplemented by the use of hand sieves (fig. 7).

The Federal dockage tester or the Emerson dockage tester (fig. 19)

is used where the Carter dockage tester is not available. These machines employ step-metal riddles for removing coarse dockage and

sieves for removing weed seeds, dirt, and finely broken pieces of grain.

Complete instructions for the use of these dockage machines may

be obtained from any Federal grain inspection supervisor.

If none of the testers mentioned is available, approximate dockage

determination can be made by hand sieves, using about 1% quarts of

grain. The hand sieves usually employed with the various grains are

described on pages 54 to 57.

WHEAT AND RYE DOCKAGE DETERMINED WITH HAND SIEVES

If the sample contains coarse material, such as straw and sticks or

oats and corn, this material may be removed, ir\ part at least, by working the sample over the scalper sieve, known also as the 1%4-inch

round-hole corn sieve. About one-fourth of the sample is placed on

the sieve at a time. All threshed kernels of the grain being graded

which remain on top of the scalper sieve should be picked out and

returned to the cleaned sample. The coarse material is placed at one

side for the time being and a further cleaning of the sample is accomplished with sieves of smaller-sized perforations. The yi2-inch roundhole fine-seed sieve should be used except when wild buckwheat or

other weed' seeds of similar size and" shape are present in a quantity in

excess of 0.5 percent in wheat or in rye. For these exceptions the

small buckwheat sieve is used.

About one-fourth of the sample is placed on it at a time and the

sieve is shaken vigorously. The material that passes through the

buckwheat sieve should be rescreened over the same sieve by placing

not more than 50 grams of the material at one time on the sieve at

the upper edge. Then, holding the sieve at an angle of lO"" to 20°,

the material is worked down over the sieve by a gentle side-sieving

motion in such a way as to reclaim the grain. A second, or possibly

a third, rescreening of the material that passes through the sieve may

be necessary.

If at any time during the reclaiming procedure the material remaining on top of the hand sieve consists of more than 50 percent of

dockage material, it is considered as dockage and no further reclaiming

is done. The dockage will consist of all coarse material except wheat

(if wheat is being graded) that was removed by the scalper, all fine

dockage passing through the hand sieves in the process of reclaiming,

and the material remaining on top of the hand sieve \yhen such material consists of more than 50 percent of dockage material.

Wheat containing chess.—^When the original sample of wheat contains more than 0.5 percent of chess, quackgrass, or other weed seeds

of similar size and shape, dockage should first be removed with the

scalper sieve and the 1/12-ii^ch round-hole sieve. The wheat so cleaned

is screened further with the large chess hand sieve. A portion of

approximately 250 grams of the sample is placed on the hand sieve and

worked back and forth lengthwise of the slots until all of the remov-
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 23

able material has passed through the sieve. The operation is continued with similar-sized portions until the entire sample has been

sieved.

The wheat that remains in the material passing through the hand

chess sieve is then reclaimed in the following way : Using the hand sieve

having %2-iiich round-hole perforations (fine-seed sieve) held at an

angle of from 10° to 20°, the material is placed on the lower edge of

the sieve and the lower edge of the sieve is struck with one hand in

such a way as to cause the material to bounce up and down. This will

cause the chess, etc., to up-end and pass through the perforations of the

sieve. ^ The operation is continued until all the separable dockage

material has passed through the sieve.

The material remaining on top of the fine-seed hand sieve is returned

to the cleaned wheat. If the material that passes through the fineseed sieve in the reclaiming process consists of 50 percent or more of

whole or broken kernels of wheat, it is put back in the cleaned wheat;

otherwise it is added to the dockage material previously obtained.

In the case of rye containing chess, quackgrass, or similar seeds,

no attempt is made to remove such material by the use of the chess

sieves.

BARLEY DOCKAGE DETERMINED WITH HAND SIEVES

The dockage in barley consists of coarse material like straws, corn,

large soybeans, and barley heads removed by a metal scalper riddle

sieve with slotted perforations %4 inch wide by % inch long; also of

fine material, such as weed seeds and dirt, removed by a 20-gage metal

sieve with equilateral triangular perforations, the inscribed circles

of which are %4 inch in diameter (small buckwheat sieve). The dockage also contains undeveloped, shriveled, and small pieces of barley

kernels removed in the screening process, which cannot be recovered

by properly rescreening with the small buckwheat sieve.

The percentage of dockage is determined by weight. This means

that a balance is needed for weighing the sample before it is cleaned

and the dockage removed. If dockage content is less than 1 percent,

it is disregarded, but if it is 1 percent or more, a statement to that

effect is added to the grade, as "No. 1 Barley; dockage, 2 percent."

When barley is sold by grade on the market, the seller ordinarily is not

paid for dockage.

FLAXSEED DOCKAGE DETERMINATION

If no dockage tester is available, the removal of the dockage

from flaxseed may be accomplished in two principal steps: (1) A

mechanical separation is made with appropriate sieves and cleaning

devices, and (2) a hand-picked separation of a portion of the mechanically cleaned flaxseed is made.

In making the mechanical separation enough flaxseed should be

cleaned so that 1% quarts of the flaxseed will be available for determining the test weight per bushel.

892545°—50^
24 MISC. PUBI^ICATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Wheat dockage sieves are not suitable for flaxseed dockage determinations ; the sieves listed below are recommended for flaxseed.

Vk^ire mesh—4 by 16 meshes to square inch.

Metal sieve—%4- by %-inch slotted perforations.

Metal sieve—0.064- by %-ineh slotted perforations (for large seeded flax).

Metal sieve—round-hole perforations 4i^/64-inch diameter.

1. Cut out a representative sample of about 1,000 to 1,100 grams.

Using one-fourth of this sample at a time, proceed as follows :

2. Eun the sample through the wire mesh sieve to remove coarse

dockage material.

3. Follow next with one of the slotted metal sieves to further remove

coarse material.

4. Next run the sample over the round-hole sieve, rescreening the

fine material removed over the same sieve to reclaim broken flaxseed.

5. Cut out 15 grams of sieved-clean flaxseed and remove all foreign

material by hand.

Figuring dockage percentage.—(a) Determine percentage of

dockage removed by sieving based on weight of the flaxseed, including

the dockage.

(5) Subtract this percentage from 100 percent to find the correction factor for the hand-picked dockage.

(c) Determine the percentage of dockage in the hand-picked portion based on the sieved-clean grain and multiply this percentage by

the correction factor.

(d) Add this corrected dockage percentage to the dockage percentage obtained by sieving to find the actual dockage.

Example :

(a) 1,000 grams of the original sample contains 100 grams of dockage or

10 percent.

(6) 100 percent—10 percent=90 percent (correction factor).

(c) 15 grams hand-picked contains 0.3 gram dockage or 2 percent. 2 percent X 90 x>ercent (correction factor) =1.8 percent.

id) Entire dockage=10 percent-j-l.S percent, or 11.8 percent (11 percent assessed dockage).

GRAIN SORGHUMS DOCKAGE DETERMINATION WITH HAND SIEVES

Sieving determinations for dockage and for total cracked kernels,

foreign material, and other grains in grain sorghums are made concurrently by grain inspectors. They are best accomplished by using

the Carter, the Federal, or the Emerson dockage tester. However, the determination for dockage may be done by hand sieves and

the determination for total cracked kernels, foreign material, and

other grains may be done by the joint use of hand sieves and hand

picking when dockage testers are not available.

When hand sieves are used for determining dockage in grain sorghums, the dockage consists of all that material that will pass through

a hand sieve perforated with round holes 21/2/64 inch in diameter. A

representative portion of approximately li/g quarts of the original

sample is used for the hand-sieving operation. The hand sieve should

be shaken vigorously with about one-fourth of the sample on the sieve

at one time.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 25

TEST WEIGHT PER BUSHEL

For many years plumpness has been considered an important characteristic of good grain. This quality is indicated in a general way

by the test weight per bushel of the grain and is expressed in terms of

pounds per measured (struck) Winchester bushel. Test weight per

bushel is an important index of the pounds of flour that may be milled

from a bushel of wheat, the largest flour yields generally being obtained from wheat of high test weight per bushel and relatively low

yields of flour from wheat of relatively low test weight per bushel.

For this reason millers prefer wheat of high test-weight-per-bushel

quality, and premiums are usually paid for such wheat.

The equipment used by inspectors in making test-weight-per-bushel

determinations is shown in figure 8. Detailed instructions for making

this test are given in Department Bulletin No. 1065 (4).

PMA 1207

FiouKE 8.—Determining the test weight per bushel of grain in a grain inspection

laboratory.
26 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

To determine the test weight per bushel of any grain approximately

1% quarts of grain should be used. When this test is made with wheat,

rye, or barley, the dockage must be removed before the test-weightper-bushel determination is made. With corn, oats, and soybeans,

for which there is no dockage provision, and with grain sorghums,

the original sample of each of these grains inclusive of foreign material is used for making the test-weight-per-bushel determination. For

flaxseed the test-weight determination is made after the removal of

that part of the dockage which can be removed readily by the use of

appropriate sieves and cleaning devices.

In m^aking the weight-per-bushel test, the 1-quart bucket of the

testing device is placed beneath a funneled hopper having a capacity

of approximately 1% quarts of grain. In the bottom of this hopper

there should be an opening li/4 inches in diameter. The bottom of

the hopper must be placed 2 inches above the top of the bucket. The

grain from the hopper is allowed to pour into the bucket until it

overflows. Without moving or jarring the heaped bucket, the grain

is leveled off with a special, smooth, round-edge stick in three zigzag

strokes (fig. 8). The scale beam of the test-weight-per-bushel apparatus should never be used to level off the grain because the constant

wearing effect on the beam and bucket will eventually affect the

accuracy and because the square-edge beam has a tendency to hollow

out the surface of the grain in the bucket, which will cause a lower

test-weight-per-bushel reading than does the official method.

SHRUNKEN AND BROKEN KERNELS IN WHEAT

There is a serious objection to mixtures of shrunken and broken

kernels with wheat of high test weight because the shrunken kernels

adversely affect the flour yield. The official standards for wheat

provide limitations in the top three grades for shrunken and broken

kernels in the dockage-free grain. Although shrunken kernels may

be found in all classes of wheat. Hard Amber Durum is probably

the class most subjectto broken kernels because of its extreme hardness.

The standards provide for a 7-percent limitation on shrunken and/or

broken kernels in the top grade for each class of wheat and a 10-percent limit in the third grade (No. 2 grade is the third grade in the

class Hard Eed Spring). This grading factor includes shrunken

and/or broken kernels of grain and other matter that will pass

through a 20-gage metal sieve with slotted perforations 0.064 inch

wide by % inch long (small chess sieve). In addition to these limitations, the standards for Durum wheat and for Eed Durum wheat

limit not only the percentage of shrunken and/or broken material

that will pass through the sieve, but also the broken kernels of grain

of any size that remain on the sieve. For these two classes of wheat

the percentage of the combined shrunken and/or broken kernels that

pass through the sieve and the broken kernels that stay on the sieve

is limited to 10 percent in grades 1 and 2 and to 15 percent in grade

3. In all classes of wheat other than Durum and Eed Durum, the

limitations regarding shrunken and/or broken kernels apply only to

the material that will pass through the sieve.

For all wheats except Durum and Eed Durum the sieving is performed by placing approximately 250 grams of the dockage-free

wheat on the small chess sieve, held level, and shaking the wheat 30
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 27

times (left to right and return) from side to side across the sieve

in a steady manner and so thatthe grain moves lengthwise of the slots.

For wheat of the Durum and Red Durum classes 50 grams of the dockage-free sample are sieved as just described and this operation is

supplemented by hand-picking the broken kernels from the grain

remaining on the sieve.

SMALL AND SHRUNKEN KERNELS IN RYE

There are limitations for what is known as '*thin" rye in the higher

numerical grades for rye. This determination is discussed under

the subject Plump Rye on page 44.

MOISTURE TESTING

Dryness has always been a much-sought-after quality in grain.

Any grain that contains moisture in excess of its normal air-dry condition is nearly always unsafe for storage, especially if the grain is

stored at a high temperature. Threshing and combining operations

for small grains should not start until the moisture content of the grain

is 14 percent or less, for flaxseed it should not start until the moisture

content is 11 percent or less, and for soybeans untilthe moisture content

is 13 percent or less.

Wheat that contains more than approximately 14 percent of moisture often will spoil during storage or transportation, and it may

spoil even with a lower moisture content in warm climates or under

improper storage conditions. Damp grain cannot be satisfactorily

milled for either flour or feed. Damp flour and damp feed will not

long remain cool and sweet in storage.

The water oven is specified in the official grain standards as the official tester for determining the percentage of moisture in corn, and the

air oven is specified as the official tester for determining the moisture

content in all of the other grains. In practice, however, the moisture

content of any grain may be found by any device and method for ascertaining the percentage of moisture that will give results equivalent to

those obtained by the water- or air-oven tests. Two types of moisture

testers in use give quicker results than can be obtained by either oven

test.

ELECTRIC MOISTURE METER

One of the rapid testers is an electric moisture meter (fig. 9). Itis

used by all Federal grain supervisors and also by a large majority of

the licensed grain inspectors throughout the United States. To make

a moisture test with this apparatus not less than 150 grams of "small

grain" or 250 grams of corn are passed between two roller electrodes.

The meter measures the electrical resistance of the grain as it passes

between these electrodes. Tables and complete instructions for converting the electrical resistances into terms of percentages of moisture

are given in the latest revised edition of the Handbook of Instructions

for the Installation and Operation of the Tag-Heppenstall Moisture

Meter.*

^ United States Department of Agriculture, Handbook of Instructions for the

Installation and Operation of the Tag-Heppenstall Moisture Meter (revised),

USGSA—MBI-1. 93 pp., ülus. 1938. [Processed.]
28 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OP AGRICULTURE

BROWN-DUVEL MOISTURE TESTER

The other type of rapid tester is the Brown-Duvel moisture tester

(figs. 10 and 11). To determine the moisture content of grain with

this tester, 100 grams of grain are mixed with 150 cubic centimeters of

suitable engine oil in a distillation flask. Heat is then applied and

the water is distilled into a graduated cylinder to determine the percentage quantity of moisture in the grain. For further details regarding the operation of this tester, the reader should refer to a copy of

Department Bulletin No. 1375, revised, with mimeographed supplements Nos. land 2 (7).

PMA 99570

PiGUEE 9.—Electric moisture meter used for determining the moisture content of

grain.

DAMAGED KERNELS

Damaged kernels are objectionable in grain. Soundness is a quality

of considerable importance in evaluating grain for commercial use.

The official grain standards for most grains permit only a small percentage of damaged kernels in the No. 1 grades, with increasing percentages of damaged kernels tolerated in each successive grade below

No. 1. In the case of oats and barley the standards require a high

percentage of sound kernels in the No. 1 grade.

Damage to kernels may be divided into types—field damage and

storage cíamage. In turn, field damage may be subdivided into two

kinds—preventable and nonpreventable. Frost damage, and such

fungus damage as scab and cobrot, may be considered practically beyond the control of the grower, although much of the damage caused
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 29

by such fungus diseases as scab and cobrot may be reduced by crop

rotation and seed treatment. On the other hand, grade loss from

sprouted grain and stack-stained, ground-damaged, and weather- damaged kernels, and damage resulting from such fungus diseases as smut

are more or less preventable.

Storage-damaged grain includes heat-damaged, weevil-damaged,

and moldy grain. Damage caused in storage usually is preventable

because it all takes place in the storage bins which are under the control

of the operator of the storage facilities. Ventilation or artificial drying of high-moisture grain, and fumigation are the usual means for

PMA 9910

FiuURE 10.—Six-compartment Brown-Duvel moisture tester.

preventing damage in storage. Ordinarily more grain is damaged

during storage than from all sources of damage to grain in the field.

The official interpretations of damaged kernels in grain when grain

is being inspected and graded are conveyed to grain inspectors by

means of type samples and by review by Federal grain supervisors of

individual samples containing damaged kernels. The following descriptions of damaged kernels in wheat, corn, soybeans, and flaxseed

have been condensed from the Grain Inspectors' Manual.''

WHEAT KERNEL DAMAGE

Damaged kernels shall be defined as kernels and pieces of kernels of

wheat and other grains which are heat-damaged, sprouted, frosted,

badly ground-damaged, badly weather-damaged, or otherwise materially damaged.

" See footuote 2, p. 5.
30 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

No 3 ri/ööer sfû/>per

PMA 10608

FIGURE 11.—Sectional view of Brown-Duvel moisture tester, showing the parts

connected for use. Distillation flask is in position % inch above the wire

gauze.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 31

The following interpretations of damaged kernels apply to kernels

and pieces of kernels of wheat and "other grains" that may be found

in wheat.

Basis of determination.—These determinations are made on a representative portion of not less than 50 grams cut from the dockage-free

wheat. "Damaged kernels" and "heat-damaged kernels" include

damaged kernels and heat-damaged kernels, respectively, of wheat and

other grains.

Frosted kernels.—Frosted kernels which are green or are discolored

black or brown; or which have frost blisters extending around the

back of the kernels and into the crease ; or which have the bran coat

partially flaked off; or which have a distinctly waxlike or candied

appearance, are damaged kernels.

Kernels of good healthy color and otherwise sound that have a

slight bran frost are classined as sound kernels.

Weevil or insect-bored kernels.—^Kernels which have been bored

by insects are damaged kernels.

Kernels that are otherwise sound but which are only slightly eaten

by insects or from which the germ has been removed by insects, are

classified as sound kernels.

Sprouted kernels.—Kernels which have the germ end broken open

from germination, and kernels which have sprouted, including the

kernels from which the sprouts have been broken off, are damaged

kernels.

Blighted and scabby kernels.—^Kernels that are affected by scab

to the extent that the bran coat is broken open and show evidence of

mold, or other diseased or damaged condition ; kernels that have a dull,

lifeless, and chalky appearance (so-called tombstone) as a result of

disease; and also such kernels that have a moldy appearance of the

germ or that have mold in the crease of the kernel; kernels that

are affected by black-tip fungus to the extent that the fungus grow^th

extends over the germ and into the crease of the kernel; kernels that

are materially affected by white, pink, gray, black, or green mold;

and kei'nels that are slightly heat-damaged as a result of incipiient

fermentation but which are not materially discolored, are damaged

kernels.

Sick wheat.—A term applied to a type of storage damage usually

associated with brown discolored germs, evidence of dead deteriorated

germs, and of other damage to the kernel. Bu]k samples of "sick"

wheat usually have a dank off-odor.

Green kernels.—Kernels that are green in color are damaged

kernels.

Other damaged kernels.—^Kernels which are materially damaged

from causes other than those listed are damaged kernels.

Weather-bleached kernels that are otherwise sound, and immature

kernels that are discolored pink by hot winds but are without evidence

of mold or other damage, are classified as sound kernels.

Heat-damaged kernels.—Kernels and pieces of kernels of wheat

and other grains which have been materially discolored and damaged

by external heat or as a result of heating caused by fermentation, are

heat-damaged kernels.

Effect of damaged wheat on flour quality.—The different kinds of

damaged wheat kernels affect the milling and baking quality of the

flour m different ways.

892545°—50' -5 "
32 MISC. PUBLICATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Frosted wheat, when the entire seed coat is badly affected, produces

a flour of poor dough quality and is unsatisfactory for the production

of good bread.

Heat damage in wheat is perhaps more objectionable than any

other, because wheat so injured produces a flour poor in color and

of unsatisfactory bread-making properties. Bread from such flour

is small in volume, the crumb is discolored, the texture is very poor,

and the bread has an offensive odor and usually tastes bad (fig. 12).

Heat damage in its early stages affects, among other things, the bran

or the pericarp protective covering of the kernels. Such damaged

kernels are commonly referred to as skin-burnt and possess unsatisfactory milling and baking properties. Similarly, stack-stain or

header damage, caused from stacking grain that is not fully ripened

and consequently is high in moisture content, produces flour of inferior

bread-making qualities.

TMA 1063

FiGUKE 12.—A, Loaf of bread made from flour milled from sound wheat ; B, loaf

of bread made from flour milled from wheat tliat contained a mixture of heatdamaged grain. Heat-damaged wheat makes poor bread.

Moldy wheat is often caused by storing damp wheat under unfavorable conditions. Such wheat usually develops a musty odor that will

ultimately be transmitted to the products made from the flour.

CORN KERNEL DAMAGE

Damaged kernels are defined as kernels and pieces of kernels of

corn which are heat-damaged, sprouted, frosted, badly ground-damaged, badly weather-damaged, or otherwise materially damaged.

In general, a kernel of corn is considered to be damaged for inspection and grading purposes only when the damage is distinctly apparent and of such character as ordinarily to be recognized as damaged

for commercial purposes.

Basis of determination.—^These determinations are made on a representative portion of approximately 250 grams cut from the sample

after the removal of cracked corn and foreign material.

Blue-eye mold.—A kernel of com, the germ of which is affected

with blue-eye mold, is a damaged kernel.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 33

Damaged germ.—A kernel of corn having a damaged germ is a

damaged kernel.

Weevil-bored kernels.—(1) Kernels which bear evidence of boring

or tunneling indicating the presence within the kernels of insects, insect webbing, or insect refuse; and (2) kernels in which noticeable

weevil-bored holes have been eaten and in which webbing or weevil

refuse still remain, are damaged kernels.

NOTE.—^Kernels which have been partially eaten by insects or rodents but

which are entirely free from refuse, webbing, or insects or other forms of

damage are not damaged.

Slight surface mold.—Kernels of corn having surface mold growths

which have not penetrated the kernels sufficiently to injure them shall

be considered as sound kernels, provided the kernels are otherwise

sound.

Silk-cut.—So-called "silk-cut" kernels not otherwise damaged shall

be considered as sound kernels.

Heat-damage.—Kernels of corn which have been materially discolored and damaged by external heat or as the result of heating caused

by fermentation, shall be considered as heat-damaged kernels.

Slight discoloration by heat.—Kernels of corn which have been

damaged by heat, but are not distinctly discolored, shall be considered as damaged kernels, but not as heat-damaged kernels.

FLAXSEED KERNEL DAMAGE

Damaged flaxseed shall be seeds and pieces of seeds of flaxseed which

are heat-damaged, sprouted, frosted, badly ground-damaged, badly

weather-damaged, or otherwise materially damaged.

The standards provide that flaxseed which contains fire-damaged

flaxseed shall be graded Sample Grade.

Basis of determinations.—These determinations are made on a representative portion of not less than 20 grams cut from the mechanically

cleaned sample.

Damaged-seed characteristics.—Damaged seeds of flaxseed usually

are characterized by decided discolorations, such as the white, dark

brown, or black discolorations caused by disease or by a moldy, scabby,

or dead appearance.

Very thin whitish paperlike seeds of flaxseed known as fly's wings

are considered as damaged.

NOTE.—Green seeds of flaxseed are not to be considered as damaged because of greenness alone.

Fire-damaged flaxseed is characterized by a charred and dead, black

appearance.

SOYBEAN KERNEL DAMAGE

Damaged kernels shall be kernels and pieces of kernels of soybeans

and other grains which are heat-damaged, sprouted, frosted, badly

ground-damaged, or otherwise materially damaged.

Basis of determination.—This determination is made on a representative portion of approximately 125 grams of the sample when

free of that portion of foreign material removed by the %4 round-hole

sieve.

Damage must be distinct.—A soybean or other grain is damaged

for mspection and grading purposes only when the damage is distmctly apparent and of such character as to be recognized as damaged

for commercial purposes.
34 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Frost damage.—Frosted soybeans which are discolored in cross

section to an intense green or to an amber or greenish-brown color,

and frosted soybeans which have a glassy, waxlike appearance, are

considered as damaged.

Immature damage.—^A soybean thatis immature from any cause is

considered as damaged when a cross section of it shows an intense

green color or when it is green in color and of a mealy or chalky

consistency.

Heat damage.—^A soybean or piece of soybean which has been

damaged by heat to the extent that a cross section of it shows a brown

or black color is considered as damaged. A kernel or piece of kernel

of other grains which has been materially discolored and damaged by

heat is considered as damaged. There are no separate heat-damage

limitations in the soybean grades. Heat-damaged beans are included

with other damaged soybeans.

Insect-damaged kernels.—Soybeans, pieces of soybeans, and kernels and pieces of kernels of other grains, which contain insects, insect webbing, or insect refuse, are considered as damaged.

NOTE.—Soybeans, pieces of soybeans, and kernels and pieces of kernels of

other grains, which are otherwise sound, and which have been partially eaten

by insects but are free from insects, insect webbing, and insect refuse, are

not considered as damaged.

Sprout and other damage.—Sprouted soybeans and soybeans

which are materially damaged from causes other than those listed

are considered as damaged.

Stained and mottled.—Soybeans which are hitained or mottled on

the surface or seed coat by weather and/or disease, but which are not

damaged or discolored internally or in cross section, are considered

as sound.

Slight surface mold.—Soybeans having surface mold growths

which have not penetrated the soybeans sufficiently to injure them

shall be considered as sound, provided the soybeans are otherwise

sound.

SOUND CULTIVATED OATS AND SOUND BARLEY

The Federal standards for oats specify a minimum percentage requirement of sound cultivated oats in each of the numerical grades for

oats. The percentage of sound cultivated oats in any sample is 100

percent minus the sum of the percentages (if any) of wild oats, foreign

material, all damaged oats, and all grains other than oats. The same

general procedure applies to the determination of sound barley except

that the determination for barley is made after the dockage has been

removed. (See the definition for Sound Barley in the Handbook of

Official Grain Standards (12).)

DAMAGED-KERNEL COMPUTATION

To determine the percentage of damaged kernels in any sample of

grain, certain minimum quantities are taken of the various grains in

accordance with the data in table 1. The percentage of heat-damaged

kernels and the percentage of foreign material in samples of wheat,

oats, rye, and barley may be determined at the same time and with the

same portion of the sample that is used for determining damaged

kernels. For determining total damaged kernels, heat-damaged

kernels are included with all other kinds of damaged kernels but,

except for soybeans and flaxseed, separate computations for heatdamaged kernels only must be made.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 35

FOREIGN MATERIAL AND RELATED DETERMINATIONS

i!'

CORN: CRACKED CORN AND FOREIGN MATERIAL

Corn is usualfy free from material other than corn. Small broken

pieces of corn are the principal ingredients in "cracked corn and foreign material." Cracked corn is sometimes caused by setting corn

shellers too closely or by shelling the corn when it is too wet; but

excessive quantities of cracked corn arise principally from the quickdrying practices that are sometimes used in the artificial drying of

corn. High-moisture corn that has been dried very rapidly and with

excessive heat is broken easily when it is handled by ordinary commercial practices through modern grain elevators.

If neither the Carter nor the Emerson dockage tester is available,

a hand sieve, perforated with round holes i%4 inch in diameter, may

be used for determining cracked corn and foreign material, by sieving

vigorously separate 1-pint portions of a li/g-quart sample. Any cobs

and matter other than corn that do not pass through the sieve are

removed by hand and added to the matter that passes through the sieve.

The percentage of cracked corn and foreign material is then computed

from the weight of the material removed and the weight of the original

sample used for the test.

GRAIN SORGHUMS: TOTAL CRACKED KERNELS, FOREIGN MATERIAL,

AND OTHER GRAINS

The "total cracked kernels, foreign material, and other grains" in

dockage-free grain sorghums includes all the matter that will pass

through the small buckwheat hand sieve when operated in the same

way as the dockage sieve described in the paragraphs entitled "Grain

Sorghums Dockage Determination with Hand Sieves," page 24. In

addition to the material so removed this factor also includes all material except grain sorghums and nongrain sorghums that remains on

the small buckwheat sieve after the screening is done. To complete

the determination for this factor, therefore, not less than a 50-gram

representative portion of grain is taken from the sieved grain remaining on the small buckwheat sieve and is hand-picked for foreign material and other grains. The precise methods for computing "total

cracked kernels, foreign material, and other grains" in grain sorghums,

used by grain inspectors, may be obtained from any Federal grain

supervisor. (See example under flaxseed dockage, p. 24.)

OATS: FOREIGN MATERIAL

Foreign material in oats usually consists of small weed seeds that

can be readily renioved by sieves, and of straws, weed stems, and similar trash. Foreign matter is often detrimental because of its effect

upon the products manufactured from the grain.

To determine the foreign material in oats a representative portion

of at least 30 grams from the original sample is analyzed either by

hand-picking or by a combination of sieving with the small buckwheat

sieve and hand-picking. When the sieve is used, any oats that pass

through the siev4 are hand-picked and returned to the oats. Any

foreign material that remains on the sieve is hand-picked and is added

to the foreign material obtained by sieving. The total foreign material so obtained is then weighed, and the percentage thereof is computed on the basis of the portion of the sample used in making the

test.
36 MISC. PUBLICATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Wild oats in oats.—^The percentage of wild oats in each numerical

grade of oats' is definitely limited. (See Handbook of Official Grain

Standards (i^).) The 30-gram portion described in the preceding

paragraph may be used for determining the percentage of wild oats

by hand-picking and weighing.

SOYBEANS: FOREIGN MATERIAL

The determination for foreign material is made on a representative

portion of approximately 125 grams.

Inspectors clean soybean samples with a screen or sieve. The sieve

has round holes % inch across. Dirt, pieces of soybeans, and other

matter taken out with the sieve are known as fine, foreign material.

Foreign material also includes corn and other grains, sticks, pods,

weed stems, and large weed seeds, such as those of cockleburs', morningglories, horsenettles, or groundcherries, which will not go through the

sieve. Inspectors pick this coarse material off the sieve and add it

to the material that went through the sieve. The combination of the

fine material removed by the sieve and the coarse material that remained on the sieve makes up the foreign material.

SPLITS IN SOYBEANS

Split beans are objectionable in soybeans as they complicate cleaning and storage problems. The oil in the split beans also oxidizes

more rapidly than in whole beans. Splits are defined as pieces of

soybeans. The split beans that are damaged are classed as "splits"

and also as damaged.

In the practical application of the grades, kernels with one-fourth

or less of the bean broken off are not considered as split. The determination for splits is made on a representative portion of approximately 125 grams of the sample when free of the foreign material that

passes through the %4-round-hole sieve.

A hand sieve with slotted perforations %4 or %4 or i%4 by % inch

may be used to facilitate the separation of splits from whole soybeans.

The analysis must be completed by hand to see that no splits remain

in the whole beans and that no whole beans remain in the splits separation. Fractions of 1 percent are disregarded in the recording of

the percentage of splits.

WHEAT AND RYE: FOREIGN MATERIAL OTHER THAN DOCKAGE

The foreign matter that cannot be removed as dockage in wheat and

rye is commonly referred to as "foreign material." In wheat and rye

the foreign material that remains in the grain after the removal of

dockage usually consists of the larger seeds of wild buckwheat, vetch,

corncockle, kinghead, wild rose, chess, quackgras's, small kernels of

barley, oat groats^ and other seeds and grains similar in size to wheat

or rye kernels. Milling and baking tests show that these impurities

are objectionable.

Rye, when present in significant quantities in wheat, results' in

darkening the flour. The yield of flour made from wheat that contains rye is also reduced.

Eye and barley are objectionable in durum wheat because they cannot be entirely removed, ßye causes a darkening in the color of

macaroni. Small portions of the barley hull pass into the flour and

appear in the macaroni products.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 37

Corncockle in wheat adversely affects the volume, color, and texture

of the loaf and may reduce the percentage of water absorption in the

flour. Particles of the outer coating of the cockle seeds frequently

appear as black specks in the flour made from wheat that contains

cockle.

Determining foreign material in wheat and rye,—For wheat, not

less than 50 grams of dockage-free wheat are analyzed for determining

the percentage of foreign material which includes all matter other

than wheat, except smut balls, remaining in the wheat after the dockage has been removed. The portion of the sample that is used for

this analysis may also be used for ascertaining the percentage of

damaged kernels. A similar procedure is used for determining

foreign material in rye.

Eye is the principal foreign matter other than dockage that is

found in wheat, and wheat is the principal admixture of foreign

material found in rye. Tiiis admixture of one milling grain with

another is not as objectionable as a mixture of inseparable weed seeds

or inert matter. In the wheat and rye grades there are special limits

for this latter class of foreign material, known as "matter except

other grains" (abbreviated MEOG) in the wheat grades, and known

as "foreign matter other than wheat" in the rye grades. (See grade

tables in Handbook of Official Grain Standards (i^).)

GENERAL APPEARANCE AS A GRADE FACTOR

The official standards provide that slightly weathered oats and

badly stained or materially weathered Feed oats and Mixed Feed

oats shall not be graded higher than No. 3. Materially weathered

soybeans and badly stained or materially weathered oats or barley,

except Western Barley, shall not be graded higher than No. 4. Badly

stained or materially weathered Western Barley is designated by the

special grade designation "Stained."

Badly weatherea grain sorghums are graded Sample grade. Appearance also governs the application of the special grades Bright,

Discolored, and Stained, discussed further under the chapter on Special Grade Designations (p. 39).

SAMPLE GRADE AND DISTINCTLY LOW-QUALITY GRAIN

The grain standards provide a Sample grade in which is placed

grain which does not meet the requirements of any of the higher

numerical grades.

Any grain which is too damp for the "Tough" grade (see p. 47)

is placed in Sample grade.

Not all Sample grade grain is of distinctly low quality, for grain

may be Sample grade because of low test weight or excess foreign

material content. The term "otherwise of distinctly low quality" is

incorporated in the Sample grade definition to provide for occasional

lots of grain which are obviously of distinctly low quality because of

some factor not included in the written grade requirements. Examples

are grain mixed with large stones, pieces of glass, pieces of concrete,

or wreckage too large to enter the probe. Rodent excreta mixed in

grain is another example. Grains treated with insecticides or fungicides which leave a residue on the grain fall into this classification.
38 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Extreme care should be used in handling chemically treated seeds in

the same plant with food grains.

STONES AND CINDERS

Stones and cinders are objectionable in grain intended for processing or for feeding. However, if the stones and cinders are removed

by the sieving process used in determining dockage, they are disregarded and only the "inseparable stones and cinders" remaining in

the work sample (1% to I14 quarts) are considered. Thus in the

case of w^heat, barley, rye, and grain sorghums, the determination for

stones and cinders is made on the sieved (dockage-free) sample. In

the case of corn, oats, and soybeans, li/g to I14 quarts of the original

sample is used.

When the number of stones and cinders exceed seven in the case

of wheat or rye, the grain is graded Sample grade.

With corn, oats, barley, grain sorghums, and soybeans the number

of stones and cinders must exceed seven and the total weight of stones

and cinders must exceed 0.2 percent before the Sample grade is applied.

WILD BROMEGRASS SEEDS

Wild bromegrass seeds in excessive numbers is cause for applying

the Sample grade in oats and in western barley. The wild bromegrass

seeds must be unhulled and hj number exceed 10 in 1% to I14 quarts

of the original sample in oats, and the same number in the dockagefree sample in barley.

ODORS IN GRAIN

The official grain standards provide that musty or sour grain, or

grain that has any commercially objectionable foreign odor, except

of smut or garlic, shall be graded Sample grade. Musty or sour odors

in grain are the result of mold growth or of fermentation and heating,

and are indexes of deterioration in grain quality that materially lowers

its value to grain users. Commercially objectionable foreign odors

in grain result from the absorption by grain in railroad cars and other

containers of residual odors from commodities like hides, oil, and

fertilizer previously stored in such containers. The principal reasons

for including such grain in Sample grade are that in case of wheat

or rye the odor usually is carried into the flour and in case of the feed

grains the odor adversely affects the palatability and in extreme cases

the actual feed value.

When grain is being tested for these odors the original sample

should be carefully examined for odor before there is any cleaning or

sieving of the grain and before the grain has been exposed to the air

for any considerable length of time. If it is impracticable to make

this test at the time of sampling or immediately after the sample

arrives in the laboratory, a representative portion of the sample should

be placed in an airtight container until conditions permit the test

to be made properly.

TEMPERATURE

When high temperatures develop in grain as the result of fermentation, such grain is "heating" or "hot" and is graded Sample grade.

Heating or hot grain usually gives off a sour or musty odor which indi-
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 39

cates fermentation within the mass of grain. Care should be taken

never to confuse grain that is heating or hot from fermentation with

sound grain that becomes warm due to storage in bins, cars, or other

containers during hot weather.

GRAIN UNFIT FOR MIXING

Sometimes grain becomes so badly damaged and out of condition as

to be considered unfit, under the food laws, for mixing with grain of a

higher grade. Its quality is so low as to constitute an adulterant.

Such grain may or may not be "unfit for human consumption."

The Department of Agriculture through the Grain Branch of the

Production and Marketing Administration maintains a service at

Chicago through which opinions are rendered as to whether or not a

lot of grain is unfit for mixing with grain of a higher grade. By sending a sample of the grain in question to the grain inspection supervisor in his district (see p. 60 for address), any country shipper

or farmer may obtain this service.

SPECIAL GRADE DESIGNATIONS

Because the commercial value of grain is not always reflected by its

numerical grade alone, the official grain standards provide for specialgrade designations for each of the grains excepting flaxseed. The

special grades designate the condition of the grain due to weathering,

excess moisture, artificial treatment such as chemical bleaching or

mechanical scouring ; or the special grade denotes the presence of live

insects injurious to stored grain, or the presence of garlic, ergot, or

smut. Provision is also made for special grades to designate quality

based on test weight per bushel, general appearance of the grain, and

kernel size. Illustrations of special grades are: Extra Heavy oats.

Bright Yellow grain sorghums. Plump rye, and the Thin special grade

in the standards for oats.

There are six special grades that have to do with the classification

of the grain on the basis of variety ; they are the Flint, and Flint and

Dent, special grades in corn; the Two-rowed grade in barley; the

designation placing the Columbia variety of oats in the Special Eed

oats grade, and the Malting special grades for Western barley of the

Hannchen or Hanna types.

Special-grade terms that denote grain of superior quality, such as

"Heavy," and "Bright," appear in the complete grade designation

immediately following the numerical grade, as : No. 1 Extra Heavy

Bright White oats. Special grades denoting adverse qualities are

added to the grade designation following the class or subclass name, as:

No. 1 Amber Durum, Tough, Smutty, Ergoty, Dockage 2.0 percent.

A list of the special grades and the standards in which they occur is

given in table 3. The grains that are graded on a dockage system are

indicated atthe bottom of the table. As provided in the basis of grade

determinations in the official standards, the analysis of the sample

for the purpose of applying a special grade is based upon the sample as

a whole, or upon the grain when free from dockage or in the case of

corn upon the grain after the removal of cracked corn and foreign

material. The three bases of determinations are indicated respectively

in the table by the letters W, D, and F.

892545°—50 6
TABLE 3.—Special grade designations in the stayndards for the various grains

Grain and basis of determination i

Special grade designation

Wheat Corn Barley Oats

Feed oats

and

mixed

feed oats

Rye

Grain

sorghums

Flaxseed

Soybeans

Mixed

grain

Re appearance:

Bleached _ D

2D

W

W

w

Bright W

Discolored __ _ W

Stained 2D

Treated D

W

W

3D

3D

D

W

Re garlic bulblets:

Light Garlicky W

W

3 D

3D

Garlicky W w W W

Re smut:

Light Smutty

Smutty __ _ D w w w W

Smut dockage (optional method)

Re test weight:

Extra Heavy _ _ w

w

w

Heavy

Medium Heavy

Test weight of Western Barley. _ __ 2D

D

2 D

D

Re other factors:

Blighted w Choice Malting Two-rowed Western Barlev

Ergoty D "D"

p

w ^\ i w Flint___

FHnt and Dent

Malting Two-rowed Western Barley. 2D

Plump _ __ D

Special Red 1 w ~!

O

M

d

w

M

O

to

O

o

M

o

d

d
Thin W

Tough __ _ D D w

D

W

W

Vf D w

Two-rowed

Weevily W

W

W w v/ w

w

w

w ~~~w~"

w w

Dockage system appUed _ _ _

1 W, the special grade is determined upon the grain as a whole.

D, the special grade is determined upon the basis of the grain when

free from dockage. F, the special grade is determined upon the

basis of the grain after the removal of the cracked corn and foreign

material.

2 The special grade in barley applies to Western Barley only.

2 The odor of smut is determined upon the grain as a whole.

>

o

>

Ö

o

H

W

^
42 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

BLIGHTED BARLEY

The damage commonly referred to as scab or blight in barley is

caused by minute fungus parasites of several known kinds which attack barley. The blighted barley kernels are discolored black, pink,

or reddish brown. Barley that is badly blight-infected is often light

in test weight per bushel. For determining the percentage of blighted

kernels in a sample of barley, a portion of not less than 30 grams of

the dockage-free barley is analyzed. When more than 4 percent of

the barley is blight-damaged, the word "blighted" is added to, and

made a part of, the grade designation. Any barley in grade No. 1

of the class Barley or of the class Black Barley that does not come

within the provisions of the special grade Blighted may contain not

more than 2 percent of blight-damaged barley.

BRIGHT OATS

Oats of good natural color, excepting bleached oats, are graded as

Bright. For this determination the whole sample is used, and as

there is no mechanical test for this factor, the decision of whether or

not the oats are Bright rests entirely upon the grader's judgment. In

actual practice, licensed grain inspectors are guided in their decisions

by instructions and types issued by the United States Department of

Agriculture. For oats that are graded Bright the word "Bright" is

added to, and made a part of, the grade designation, with the word

"Bright" preceding the name of the class. An example of the use

of this term is No. 1 Bright White oats.

BRIGHT GRAIN SORGHUMS AND BRIGHT WESTERN BARLEY

The special grade Bright is also provided for grain sorghums and

for Western Barley. (See paragraph "General Appearance as a

Grade Factor" on p. 37.)

DISCOLORED GRAIN SORGHUMS

Grain sorghums that are discolored but that are not badly weathered

are graded as Discolored and the word "Discolored" is added to, and

made a part of, the grade designation, as, for example. No. 2 White

Kafir, Discolored. (Badly weathered grain sorghums are graded

Sample grade.)

ERGOTY GRAIN

Ergot is a fungus disease that attacks cereal grains, principally rye

and occasionally Durum wheat and barley.

Any dockage-free wheat, rye, or barley, as well as any oats, Feed

oats. Mixed Feed oats, and Mixed Grain (with all of the foreign

material included in the last four grains) which contains more than

0.3 percent of ergot is classified as Ergoty, and the word "Ergoty"

must be added to, and made a part of, the grade designation.

Ergot is objectionable because it discolors the flour if milled with

the grain. Ergot also contains poisonous compounds that may be

injurious to man and animals ; thus foods and millfeeds manufactured

from ergoty grain are undesirable.

The regulations for the enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug,

and Cosmetic Act provide that any flour or other manufactured cereal
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 43

product that contains more than 0.1 percent of ergot shall be considered to be adulterated. Consequently, as much as possible of the

ergot should be removed from grain that contains ergot before the

grain is converted into flour or feed.

Determining percentage of ergot in wheat, rye, or barley.—To determine the percentage of ergot in either wheat, rye, or barley, a representative portion of at least 250 grams should be taken from the

dockage-free grain.

The ergot is picked out by hand and weighed, and the percentage

of ergot is computed on the basis of the portion analyzed.

Determining percentage of ergot in oats. Feed oats, Mixed Feed

oats, or Mixed Grain.—^To determine the percentage of ergot in oats,

Feed oats. Mixed Feed oats, or Mixed Grain, a representative portion of at least 250 grams should be taken from the original sample

(all foreign material included). The ergot is picked out by hand and

weighed, and the percentage of ergot is computed on the basis of

the poition analyzed.

EXTRA HEAVY OATS (ALL CLASSES)

Any oats that have a test weight of 38 pounds or more per bushel

are graded as Extra Heavy and this term is added to, and made a part

of, the grade designation. An example of this special grade designation is No. 2 Extra Heavy White oats.

FLINT CORN

The greater part of the corn in commerce is the dent type, but

recently some flint types of corn have been placed on the market.

The official grain standards for corn define Flint corn as corn of any

class that consists of 95 percent or more of corn of any of the flint

varieties. An example of special grade designation for flint corn

is No. 1 Yellow corn, Flint.

FLINT AND DENT CORN

Flint and Dent corn is defined in the standards as corn of any class

which consists of a mixture of the flint and dent varieties and which

contains more than 5 percent but less than 95 percent of corn of any

of the flint varieties. An example of a special grade designation for

such corn is No. 3 White corn, Flint and Dent.

To determine the percentage of flint corn in a sample, a representative portion of approximately 250 grams of the sample from which

the cracked corn and foreign material has been previously removed

should be analyzed for flint and dent kernels. The separation of

the flint corn is then weighed and the percentage computed.

GARLICKY WHEAT

Wild garlic and onion bulblets are frequently found growing with

Soft Eed Winter wheat. The presence of wild garlic or onion bulblets frequently causes a substantial reduction in the price millers will

pay for the grain. Wild garlic and onion bulblets in wheat are

objectionable because they clog the rolls of the mill during the grinding process^ thus reducing the efficiency of the milling machinery, and

because flour made from garlicky wheat often is tainted with garlic
44 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

odor. For these reasons garlicky wheat usually is subject to price

discounts.

Garlicky wheat is wheat that contains two or more green garlic

bulblets, or an equivalent quantity of dry or partly dry bulblets in

1,000 grams of wheat before the removal of dockage. Three dry

garlic bulblets are considered equivalent to one green garlic bulblet.

Not less than 1,000 grams of grain are used for making this determination.

1. In case there are two or more, but not more than six, green garlic

bulblets, or an equivalent quantity of dry or partly dry bulblets per

1,000 grams of wheat, the wheat is classified as "Light Garlicky,"

and this term is added to, and made a part of, the grade designation.

2, In case there are more than six green garlic bulblets or an equivalent quantity of dry or partly dry bulblets per 1,000 grams of wheat,

the wheat is classified as "Garlicky" and this term is added to, and

made a part of, the grade designation.

GARLICKY RYE, BARLEY, OATS, SOYBEANS, AND MIXED GRAIN

Special grades for garlicky rye, garlicky barley, garlicky oats, garlicky soybeans, and garlicky Mixed Grain apply to these grains when

the garlic present exceeds the limitations provided in the garlicky

definitions for such grain. (See Handbook of Official Grain

Standards {12).)

HEAVY OATS (ALL CLASSES)

Any oats that have a test weight of 35 pounds or more per bushel

but less than 38 pounds are graded as Heavy and this term is added

to, and made a part of, the grade designation. An example of this

special grade designation is No. 2 Heavy White oats.

HEAVY HARD RED SPRING WHEAT

The designation "Heavy" is not set up specifically as a special grade

in the standards for Hard Red Spring wheat, but specifications concerning it are included in the tabulated parts of the standards. For

any wheat of the subclasses Dark Northern Spring, Northern Spring,

and Red Spring of the class Hard Red Spring which grades No. 1

and which has a test weight per bushel of 60 pounds or more, the

word "Heavy" is added to the grade designation preceding the name

of the subclass. An example of this grade is No. 1 Heavy Dark

Northern Spring.

MEDIUM HEAVY OATS (ALL CLASSES)

Any oats of grades Nos. 3, 4, and Sample grade, which have a test

weight per bushel of 30 pounds or more but less than 35 pounds, are

graded Medium Heavy.

PLUMP RYE

To provide a special designation for rye which is relatively free

of small and shrunken kernels and to restrict admixtures of shrunken

kernels in rye of high test weight and grade, the rye standards provide for a "sizing" test. The material removed in the test is designated "rye and other matter that will pass through a metal sieve with

rectangular perforations 0.064 inch wide by % inch long" (small
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 45

chess sieve). Such rye and other matter is generally referred to as

"thin rye." If not more than 5 percent of such matter is present,

the special grade Plump is added to the grade designation.

Furthermore, the rye in grade No. 1 may contain not more than 10

percent, in grade No. 2 not more than 15 percent, and in grade No. 3

not more than 25 percent of the previously described rye and other

matter.

In inspection practice the test with the sieve is made on a representative portion of the sample consisting of one-fourth of the dockage-free rye that was used for the weight-per-bushel test. This portion may weigh about 250 grams. The portion of grain to be tested

is sieved in the following manner :

Hold the sieve in both hands in front of the body with elbows close

to the sides. Hold the sieve level and so that the grain moves lengthwise of the slots. In a steady sieving motion, move the sieve from

right to left approximately 10 inches, and return from left to right to

complete one operation. Repeat the operation 30 times. The rye remaining in the slots should be returned to the portion of the sample

that remains on top of the sieve.

Weigh the material removed by the sieve and determine the

percentage.

SMUTTY WHEAT

Any wheat which before the removal of dockage has an unmistakable odor of smut or which after the removal of dockage contains

balls, portions of balls, or spores of smut, in excess of a quantity equal

to 14 balls of average size in 250 grams of wheat, is classified as smutty

wheat.

The standards provide two optional methods for grading Smutty

Wheat.

1. Smut dockage : (This method is used in the far Western States.)

If the wheat is smutty, a 500-gram portion of the dockage-free wheat

is placed in a laboratory wheat scourer where the smut is removed.

The loss in weight of the wheat (not the weight of the smut removed)

that is caused by this removal of the smut is computed in terms of

percentage based on the total weight of the grain when free from

dockage. The percentage of smut dockage thus computed is stated

in terms of half percent, whole percent, or whole-and-a-half percent,

as the case may be. The percentage of smut dockage so calculated and

stated is added to the grade designation preceding the statement of

dockage, if any. Any fraction of a percent less than % percent is

disregarded.

2. Light Smutty and Smutty: (This method is in general use east

of the Rocky Mountains.) In the case of wheat, which before the removal of dockage has an unmistakable odor of smut, or which after

the removal of dockage contains balls, portions of balls, or spores of

smut, in excess of a quantity equal to 14 balls but not in excess of a

quantity equal to 30 balls of average size in 250 grams of wheat, the

term "Light Smutty" is added to, and made a part of, the grade

designation.

In case smut balls are present in excess of a quantity equal to 30

balls of average size in 250 grams of wheat, the designation "Smutty"

is added to, and made a part of, the grade designation.

Snaut in wheat and rye is objectionable because the smutty odor may

pass into the flour and the black smut spores may discolor it.
46 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

SMUTTY RYE, BARLEY, OATS, GRAIN SORGHUMS, AND MIXED GRAIN

Special grades of smutty rye, smutty barley, smutty oats, smutty

grain sorghums, and smutty Mixed Grain apply when the smut

present exceeds the limitations specified in the definitions for smutty in

these grains.

SPECIAL RED OATS

The increased production of Columbia Ked oats, which have been

found equal in processing value to White oats, led to the adoption of

the special grade Special Red oats applicable to Columbia Eed oats

and to other red oats having similar characteristics.

Columbia Eed oats range in color from an almost white through

light tan, grayish brown, and brown to reddish cast, having conspicuous light colored veins running lengthwise of the kernels.

Oats of the special grade Special Red oats may not contain more

than 10 percent of other cultivated oats. An example of the special

grade is Ño. 2 Special Red oats.

STAINED WESTERN BARLEY

Any Western Barley (excepting Bleached Barley) that is badly

stained or weathered is ^aded as Stained, and when such barley is

so graded the word "Stained" is added to, and made a part of, the

grade designation, as, for example, No. 2 Western Barley, Stained.

TEST WEIGHT OF WESTERN BARLEY

Test weight per bushel is not a grading factor for determining the

numerical grade of Western Barley. ( See Handbook of Official Grain

Standards {12),) Instead, the test weight per bushel is added to, and

made a part of, the grade designation, following the name of the

class. The test weight is expressed in terms of whole pounds, and a

fraction of a pound is disregarded. An example of this special grade

designation is No. 3 Western Barley, 45 pounds.

THIN OATS

Thin oats are any oats, whether sized, clipped, or natural, which contain more than 20 percent of oats and/or other matter except "fine

seeds" that will pass through a 20-gage metal sieve perforated with

slots 0.064 inch wide by % inch long (small chess sieve) (fig. 7, Í7).

The test for "thin" oats is made by hand-sieving a representative

portion of the original sample. Approximately li/g quarts of oats

should be used but not more than one-third of this portion should be

on the sieve at any one time. The sieve is held level and shaken in a

steady manner 20 times (left to right and return) in such a way that

the oats move lengthwise of the slots. The material that passes

through the sieve in this operation is resieved over the small buckwheat hand sieve (fig. 7, B) to remove the "fine seeds." The small

undersized oats that passed through the small chess sieve and from

which the fine seeds have been removed are then weÍ2:hed and the

percentage of thin oats is computed on the basis of the weight of the

portion that was tested. An example for the use of this special grade

designation is No. 2 White Oats, Thin.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 47

TOUGH GRAIN

The special grade designation "Tough" applies to the standards for

wheat, barley, oats. Feed oats, Mixed Feed oats, rye, and Mixed Grain.

The minimum and maximum moisture limits for tough grade of the

various grains are shown in table 4. When the moisture content exceeds the maximum percentage allowed in the special grade "Tough,"

the grain is then graded "Sample grade."

An example of the use of the special grade designation "Tough" is

as follows : No. 2 White Oats, Tough. The designation "Tough" does

not apply in the case of corn, grain sorghums, flaxseed, or soybeans.

TABLE 4.—Minimum and maximum moisture limits for tough grain

Grain

Moisture content of

tough grain

In excess

of—

Not to exceed—

Wheat:

Hard Red Winter, Soft Red Winter, and White

Hard Red Spring, Durum, and Red Durum

Barley:

Barley (class I) and Black Barley

Western Barley

Oats, Feed oats, and Mixed Feed oats

Rye

Mixed Grain

Percent

14

14. 5

14. 5

13. 5

14. 5

14

14. 5

Percent

15. 5

16

16

15

16

16

16

TWO-ROWED BARLEY

Two-rowed barley consists of Two-rowed barley of the subclass

Barley, of the class Barley, or of the class Western Barley that does

not meet the requirements for the special grades Choice Malting Tworowed Barley and Malting Two-rowed Barley (p. 62), and may not

contain more than 10 percent of Six-rowed barley. To determine the

percentage of Two-rowed barley in any sample, approximately 30

grams of the dockage-free barley are analyzed and if the barley does

not contain more than 10 percent of Six-rowed barley, the word*"Tworowed" is added to, and made a part of, the grade designation, preceding the name of the class or subclass, as the case may be. An example

of this special grade designation is No. 1 Two-rowed Barley.

Identification of Two-rowed and Six-rowed Barley.—In the field

two-rowed and six-rowed barleys are differentiated by the arrangement of the kernels in the spike or head. In two-rowed barley there

are only two rows of kernels in each head, while a six-rowed barley

spikelet group consists of three kernels and thus six rows appear in

each head. The two outside kernels in a spikelet group in six-rowed

barley are called lateral kernels, and are usually thinner than the

center kernel. The lateral kernels have a twisted appearance which

is one of the principal identification marks of all six-rowed barleys in

the threshed grain. Six-rowed kernels are illustrated in figure ISA

and two-rowed kernels in figure 13S.

A knowledge of varietal characteristics is required in order to make

a satisfactory analysis for two-rowed and six-rowed barley. The

diagrams in figure 13 illustrate some of the characteristics that are

used in identifying two- and six-rowed barleys.
48 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

m I

m I B

PMA 15861

FIGURE 13.—A, Six-rowed barley ; s, side view ; x, cross section ; I, lateral kernels ;

m, middle kernels. B, two-rowed barley ; ¿i?\ cross section ; s\ side view ; no

lateral kernels.

SIX-KOWED

(Figure 13^)

A prominent ridge on the top or

germ side curving downward at

both ends of the kernel (s and

Drawn out in bottle-neck shape at

germ end with in-curving sides

(m).

Kernels may or may not be twisted

(1 and mÍ.

TWO-KOWED

(Figure 135)

Center ridge not prominent. Top

of kernel flat. Edges prominent

and tip opposite germ up-curving (s and x").

Wedge-shaped at germ end with

sides of kernel straight.

Kernels never twisted.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 49

Two-rowed kernels generally have a thinner skin than six-rowed

barleys and the skin is often transversely wrinkled. Typical tworowed kernels are plump and rounded on the crease side and when

poured onto a table or flat surface will often be observed with the

rounded side up and resting firmly on the flat dorsal side of the

kernel. The prominent dorsal ridge in six-rowed barleys generally

prevents this position on a flat surface.

Those interested in a further study of barley varieties are referred

to Technical Bulletin No. 907, entitled Classification of Barley Varieties Grown in the United States and Canada in 1945 (i ).

For discussion of the special malting grades for Hannchen and

Hanna barleys, see Appendix I, p. 62.

WEEVILY GRAIN

The official standards provide that grain, except flaxseed, shall be

graded 'Weevily" if infested with live weevils or other insects injurious to stored grain (fig. 14). Some insects eat the grain, while others

bore into it and lay eggs in the kernels. These eggs hatch into larvae

that feed upon the interior of the kernels. Weevil-infested grain

generally is useless for seed and its value is low for processing, because

the kernels may be so gnawed and bored by the growing larvae or

mature weevils that little or no substance is left. Besides consuming

the grain the weevils leave much offensive offal mixed with the grain.

When weevily grain is officially graded, the word "Weevily" is added

to the grade designation.

"Live weevils" include rice weevils, granary weevils, and lesser grain

borers. "Other insects injurious to stored grain" include the live

beetles, moths, mealworms and other insects injurious to stored grain

described in Farmers' Bulletin No. 1260 (2). The presence of any

live weevil or other insect injurious to stored grain indicates the probability of infestation and warns the inspector that the grain must be

carefully examined to determine whether it is infested.^ The presence

of a single live weevil should not be considered as conclusive evidence

that grain is infested since the single live weevil found may be incidental. In such cases, the balance of the representative sample should be

examined or one or more extra cuts of a running stream should be

taken and examined immediately before reaching a conclusion as to

whether or not the grain is infested.

APPARATUS FOR GRADING GRAIN

It is difficult to specify the grain-grading apparatus that anyone,

other than a licensed grain inspector, shoulahave available if he is to

grade grain. In the Corn Belt a moisture tester is essential when the

new corn crop is placed on the market, but itis not nearly so important

in many of the wheat-producing areas, except during a wet harvest.

In the spring wheat area of the central Northwest, equipment for removing dockage is necessary, whereas in parts of the winter wheat

areas there is little dockage and a full set of this equipment is not

greatly needed. In other parts of the hard winter wheat region dockage is of importance. Flaxseed and grain sorghum sieves are needed

® When a considerable number of Uve Angoumois moths are noted on top of the

grain in a railroad car or other container, their presence, for the purposes of

determining the special grades for Weevily grain, is evidence of infestation.
50 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

only in rather restricted areas. The electrically operated dockage

testers are good labor savers for busy country elevator operators.

However, unless wild oats, cultivated oats, or barley become mixed

with wheat, a dockage tester of one of the types elsewhere described is

not absolutely essential, because most of the coarse material can be

removed by a hand scalper sieve (1%4-inch round-hole perforations),

and the fine material consisting mostly of small weed seeds can be

removed from the grain with the small buckwheat or the fine-seed

(yi2-inch round-hole perforations) sieve. (See p. 22 for method of

operation.)

The test weight per bushel of any grain is an important indication

of its market value, for this test is a measure of the plumpness of the

^^-/T'

f ^.

^ 1

ê Qy^

PMA 10Ö52

FIGURE 14.—Grain kernels damaged by weevils and other inset'ts injurious to

stored grain. (Left) The granary weevil, which is chestnut brown or black

in color and %Q inch or less in length. (Right) The lesser grain borer (Australian weevil ), which is dark brown or black in color, cylindrical in form and

small (Vfi inch long by %2 inch wide). (Center) The Angoumois moth, which

is a small buff or yellowish brown moth, with a wing expanse of 1/2 inch. Two

so-called bran bugs or flour beetles are shown right and left of center. These

small reddish beetles are about Vs to % inch long.

grain. It is imperative that the test-weight-per-bushel equipment be

available.

As such separations as mixtures of other grains, other classes, damaged grain, weed seeds, and other foreign matter must be weighed

in the process of testing, a dependable scale or balance must be on

hand.

The pieces of apparatus that are used by grain inspectors are described in the following pages.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 51

1/

ñ

i

PMA 1232

PiGUEE 15.—A, Double-shelled compartment grain probe used for sampling bulk

grain ; B, a probe used for sampling ear corn in cribs ; C, a small probe used

for sampling sacked grain.
52 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

PROBES

Representative samples should be obtained by the use of a grain

probe.

The standard probe used for sampling bulk grain in cars is a doubleshell slotted brass probe 62% inches long. Between each slot the inner

shell (tube) should be separated by partitions so that each slot will

be the entrance to a separate compartment (fig. 15, J.).

The ear corn probe (fig. 15,5) for sampling corn on the ear has been

developed in receiït years in connection with the commodity loan program. This apparatus consists of a tube of cold-rolled steel, sharply

pointed and slotted near the point. One edge of the slot bears a row

of teeth for shelling the kernels from the cobs. It has an inner tube

which can be turned so as to open or close the slot.

To operate, the probe is inserted into the crib of ear corn between

the slats of the crib. The inner tube is then turned so as to open the

slot and by means of the cross bar in the handle the whole probe is

rotated so that the projecting teeth shell the kernels into the slot.

SPOUT SAMPLER OR "PELICAN"

For obtaining a representative sample from a falling stream of bulk

grain, and particularly for sampling bulk grain that is being spouted

into the holds of a vessel, a spout sampler, generally called a "pelican,"

is used (fig. 16). This device makes it possible to obtain complete

cross sections from the stream of grain being sampled. In operation,

the stream of grain is cut at frequent intervals and the samples so

obtained are then reduced in size by being put through a Boerner

divider (fig. 2).

MOISTURE TESTER

The electric moisture meter and the Brown-Duvel moisture tester

are the practical devices used for determining the moisture content of

any grain for which standards have been established (figs. 9, 10,

and 11).

SAMPLE DIVIDER

An apparatus known as a Boerner divider (fig. 2) is used in all

grain inspection offices for obtaining a thoroughly representative

portion from a larger sample.

TEST-WEIGHT-PER-BUSHEL APPARATUS

Several reliable types of test-weight-per-bushel apparatus now on

the market can be used for testing all grains. The official type (fig. 8)

is the one described in Bulletin No. 1065 (^). Another type is a standard bucket and beam with a funnel to regulate the flow and fall of the

grain and with a special stroker. This type is considerably less expensive than the official type, and if the directions for its use are strictly

followed, it will give results comparable with those obtained by the

official tester.

BALANCES

Large size.—For weighing all portions of grain in excess of 50

grams, a balance should be available that has a graduated beam sensi-
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 53

tive to one-tenth of a gram and with a set of weights from 1 gram to

1,000 grams. It is used for weighing all large-sized portions of the

original samples that are to be tested for dockage, moisture content,

cracked corn and foreign material, and for any other determination

that involves a weight of more than 50 grams (fig. 17).

Small size.—For weighing all small portions of a sample, there

should be available a balance with a capacity of 50 grams with a graduPMA 9931

FIGURE 16.—Spout sampler (pelican) used for sampling bulk grain delivered

from a spout.

ated beam to read 1 gram and fractions of a gram and sensitive to onehundredth of a gram. A set of weights from 1 gram to 50 grams

should be provided for this balance (fig. 17).

DOCKAGE TESTER

Two types of devices are in common use for removing dockage material from wheat, rye, barley, grain sorghums, and flaxseed and for

the remo\-al of cracked kernels and foreign material from corn and

grain sorghums. One is the Carter dockage tester (fig. 18) used by
54 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

all grain inspection supervisors and by many licensed inspectors ; another is the Emerson dockage tester (fig. 19). Each is equipped with

specially constructed sieves or riddles.

SIEVES

A set of standard hand sieves (fig. 7) made from metal 0.032 inch

thick is needed to supplement the machine sieves and riddles of the

Carter dockage tester and the Emerson dockage tester. These sieves

should be 13 inches in diameter and so made that they will nest freely

with each other and with a bottom pan. A list of hand sieves that are

PMA 15611

FIGURE 17.—Operator weighing a portion of wheat for dockage determination

by Using a large torsion balance with a capacity of 1,200 grams and sensitive

to Vio gram. At the left is a small torsion balance with a capacity of 50 grams

and sensitive to Yioo gram. This balance is used for weighing analytical

separations, such as for damaged and heat-damaged grain.

sometimes used is given in the following paragraphs. The operator

need procure only those sieves that he considers necessary for the kinds

of grain that he intends to grade. All sieves should be tested occasionally with standard gages for accuracy. This is especially true

if a sieve is used frequently and is thus subject to wear.

Accuracy of perforations.—The diameter of round-hole perforations and of the inscribed circle of triangular perforations, and the

width of slotted perforations should meetthe tolerance of j)lus or minus

0.0005 inch. The accuracy of perforations of sieves used by Federal

grain supervisors is checked by means of "go" and "no go" cylindrical

plugs.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 55

Corn sieve.—The corn sieve (fig. 7, J.) is perforated with round

holes i%4 inch in diameter. It is used for removing cracked corn and

foreign material from corn when the grader does not have either of

the dockage testers heretofore mentioned. It is used also as a scalper

FIGURE 18.- -Carter dockage tester, electrically operated,

details of operation. )

(See figure 20 for

sieve to remove coarse foreign matter from wheat and rye in the dockage determination of these grains when either of the dockage testers is

not in use.

Soybean foreign material sieve.—The sieve used in the foreign

material determination in soybeans is perforated with round holes

%4 inch in diameter.
56 MISC. PUBLICATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Sieves to facilitate determination of splits in soybeans.—Although the determination of splits in soybeans is not based on

a sieving test, nevertheless hand sieves with slotted perforations %4

or %4 or '%4 by % inch are useful in facilitating the determination.

Fine seed sieve.—The fine-seed sieve (fig. 7, E) has round-hole

perforations ^2 iuch in diameter. It is used for removing fine seeds,

such as mustard, in dockage determinations in wheat and rye.

Grain sorghums dockage sieve.—The dockage sieve for grain

sorghums, with round-hole perforations 2^/64 inch in diameter, is

used in making dockage determinations of grain sorghums.

Small buckwheat sieve.—The small buckwheat sieve (fig. 7, B) has

equilateral triangular perforations, the inscribed circles of which are

PMA 9496

FiGTJKE 19.—Emerson dockage tester, electrically operated.

%4 inch in diameter. Itis used for removing such seeds as wild buckwheat, pigeongrass, and seed of similar size in dockage determinations

in wheat and rye, as a part of the equipment for determining dockage

in barley, and for removing "fine seeds" in connection with the sizing

test for Thin oats.

Small chess sieve.—The small chess sieve (fig. 7, C) has slotted

perforations 0.064 inch wide by % inch long. It is used for removing

large-seeded flaxseed from wheat, for determining the factor "thin

oats" in the grading of oats, for determining "shrunken and/or broken

kernels" in wheat, and "thin or undersized kernels" in rye.

Large chess sieve.—The large chess sieve (fig. 7, D) has slotted perforations 0.070 inch wide by ^ inch long. It is used for removing

chess seeds, quackgrass, and similarly shaped seeds from wheat.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 57

Barley-sizing sieves.—A sieve with slotted perforations 4%/64

inch wide by % inch long is used for removing thin barley in grading

"eastern" six-rowed malting barley. A sieve with slotted perforations

5^/64 inch wide by % inch long is used for removing thin barley in

the grading of "western" two-rowed malting barley.

Barley scalper sieve.—The barley scalper sieve with slotted perforations %4 inch wide by % inch long is used in the determination of

dockage in barley for removing coarse foreign material, such as corn,

soybeans, sticks, and straw.

Flaxseed sieves.—One of the flaxseed sieves is perforated with

round holes 4^/^/64: of an inch in diameter. This sieve is used to facilitate the removal of small seeds from flaxseed in the determination of

dockage in flaxseed.

Another kind of flaxseed sieve which has slotted perforations %4

inch wide by % inch long, is sometimes used. It is especially useful

for separating cereal grains and other coarse material from flaxseed,

and may be used for removing flaxseed from wheat when determining

dockage in wheat.

For a complete list of flaxseed dockage sieves, see "Flaxseed Dockage

Determination," page 23.

MOTOR

PAN a '

PAN 3

PAN y

PAN S

BOTTOM OR

RECLAIMING

SIEVE

FIGURE 20.—Operations performed by Carter dockage tester on samples of wheat :

A, Sample being discharged from feed hopper passes through air stream onto

riddle and the material removed by air drops into pan 1 ; J5, tailings (coarse

dockage) discharged over riddle drops into pan 2 ; (7, grain that passed through

riddle drops into riddle hopper which directs wheat to top sieve, or to middle

sieve when no sieve is used in top position ; D, clean grain passes over top sieve

into pan 3 when top sieve is employed ; E, in cases where no top sieve is used,

clean grain passes over middle sieve into pan 4, but when the middle sieve is

used as a reclaiming sieve, the reclaimed material passes over the sieve into

pan 4; F, the material passing through the middle sieve is directed to the

bottom sieve for reclaiming or further separation ; Q, reclaimed material passing over the bottom sieve drops into pan 5 ; and fine dockage passes through

sieve and drops into pan 6.
58 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

BARLEY PEARLER

The barley pearling machine assists inspectors to determine whether

there is present a sufficient quantity of mellow (starchy) kernels in the

grain to permit the barley to be graded as Malting Barley. Furthermore, the pearler is almost indispensable for detecting heat damage

in barley (fig. 6).

INCREASING THE VALUE OF GRAIN

The grading factors discussed in this publication measure class,

quality, and condition and are the basis on which inspectors assign

grades to grain. Many of the conditions that are measured by these

grade-determining factors are under the control of the farmer or grain

handler. Examples of the conditions that are under the control of

the farmer or grain handler follow.

Wheat may be assigned a lower grade because it is composed of a

mixture of different classes, or because it contains an excess quantity

of rye, weed seeds, or smut. Grain is sometimes assigned a low grade

because it has a musty odor or because it contains an excess quantity

of damaged kernels as a result of the grain having been put into storage

while it was still too damp. Barley that has been threshed too closely

may not qualify for the highest classification or the highest grade.

The selection of suitable varieties, the recommended cultural methods, proper seed treatment, harvesting when the grain is mature, careful threshing and subsequent handling, all have an important influence on the elimination of factors which lower the grade and value

of the grain crops.

The improved quality of market receipts of grain in recent years

is noticeable. Some areas have eliminated rye mixtures in wheat.

Chess and cockle have been cleaned out in others. The top grades of

malting barley are now produced where "feed" barley formerly was

grown.

The educational work conducted by State extension services and

crop-improvement organizations has accomplished much in increasing

the quality of the grain produced. Hundreds of grain-grading schools

for farmers and grain dealers have been held, where samples of grain

were examined and the quality problems of the community were discussed (fig. 21). Pure-seed campaigns and rod-row variety demonstrations have been used to good purposes. All of these efforts have

encouraged farm practices valuable to both the producer and the buyer.

Grain of higher grade has been grown and marketed and the entire

industry has benefited.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The information contained in this publication pertains to the most

important grading problems that are encountered in grain inspections.

Local and seasonal conditions may require some other special grading

procedure than is here described, but it is believed that the abbreviated

instructions and definitions in this publication should prove useful

to those grain producers and handlers who are not familiar with the

full technical routine employed by official grain inspectors.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 59

Grain inspection supervisors are located at most of the large grain

markets. Upon request they will give advice and further information

regarding grain-grading problems.

In addition to the Official Handbook of Grain Standards (12) circulars covering the grading of certain grains have been prepared and

are available to those who are interested (10), {11), [13), {H-), (15),

{16), {17), {18). Miscellaneous Publication No. 328 of the United

States Department of Agriculture, "The Service of Federal Grain

Standards," describes the commercial inspection system and points

out some of the benefits of the United States Grain Standards Act to

grain growers {9).

A free copy of any of the publications just referred to and of this

grain grading Primer may be obtained from any of the offices listed

on pp. 60 and 61 of this publication.

PMA 15616

FIGURE 21.—A grain-grading school for county extension agents, conducted In

cooperation with the South Dakota Extension Service.

The Production and Marketing Administration maintains a cooperative project with the Extension Service at the Post Office Building,

Chicago, 111. This project deals with educational work on the marketing of grain at country points. Also, licensed grain inspectors are

located in nearly every terminal grain market, so that approximately

200 grain-inspection offices and laboratories are distributed throughout

the country. It is suggested that anyone who is interested in this

subject visit one or more of these grain-inspection offices and observe

the way in which grain is sampled, inspected, and graded, under commercial conditions.

LITERATURE CITED

(1) ABEEO, EwERT, and WiEBE, G. A.

1946. CLASSIFICATION OF BARLEY VARIETIES GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES

AND CANADA IN 1945. U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bul. 907, pp. 190,

lUus.

(2) BACK, E. A.

1940. STOEED-GRAIN PESTS. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 1260, 46 pp., illus.
60 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

(8) BOEKNEK, E. G,

1942. THE CONVERSION OF THE WEIGHTS OF MECHANICAL SEPARATIONS OF GRAIN

INTO PERCENTAGES. U. S. Dept. AgT. Cîr. 623, pp. 20.

(4) ^ and ROPES, E. H.

1922. THE TEST WEIGHT OF GRAIN : A SIMPLE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE

ACCURACY OF THE TESTING APPARATUS. U. S. Dept. AgT. Bul. 1065,

13 pp., illus.

(5) CLARK, J. ALLEN, and BAYLES, B. B,

1942. CLASSIFICATION OF WHEAT VARIETIES GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES IN

1939. U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. BuL 795,146 pp., illus.

(6) ^ and BAYLES, B. B.

1950. DISTRIBUTION OF THE VARIETIES AND CLASSES OF WHEAT IN THE UNITED

STATES IN 19 49. U. S. Dept. Agr. Cir. 861.

(7) CoLEMAN, D. A., and BOEKNER, E. G.

1936. THE BROWN-DUVEL MOISTURE TESTEE AND HOW TO OPERATE IT. U. S.

Dept. Agr. Bul. 1375, 44 pp., illus.

(8) DULY, S. J.

1928. GRAIN. 163 pp., illus. London.

(9) UNITED STATES BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS.

1938. THE SERVICE OF FEDERAL GRAIN STANDARDS. U. S. Dept. Agr. MiSC.

Pub. 328,18 pp., illus.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE :

(10) 1946. GRADING BARLEY AT COUNTRY POINTS. A. I. S. 54, 8 pp., illuS.

(11) 1950.. GRADING SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT AT COUNTRY POINTS. Leaf. 298.

Extension Service. Folder, illus.

(12) 1951. HANDBOOK OF OFFICIAL GRAIN STANDARDS OP THE UNITED STATES. 101

pp., illus. Production and Marketing Administration, Grain Branch,

Washington, D. 0.

(13) 1949. EIGHT STEPS IN GRADING SOYBEANS. A. I. S. 84. Exteusiou Service.

Folder, illus.

(14) 1945. SEVEN QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN YOU BUY OR SETX SHELLED CORN BY GRADE,

A. I. S. 32. Extension Service. Folder, illus.

(15) 1943. SIX STEPS IN GRADING FLAXSEED. A. W. I. 37. Bxteusiou Service.

Folder, illus.

(16) 1943. TEN STEPS IN GRADING GRAIN SORGHUMS. A. W. I. 36. ExtcnsiOH

Service. Folder, illus.

(17) 1944. TWELVE POINTS IN GRADING DRY EDIBLE BEANS. A. W. I. 99. ExtCUSion

Service and War Food Administration. Folder, illus.

(18) 1944. WHEAT GRADING AT COUNTRY POINTS. A. W. I. 86. Extensiou Service.

Folder, illus.

OFFICES OF THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING ADMINISTRATION AT

WHICH GRAIN INSPECTION SUPERVISORS ARE LOCATED

(May 1953)

Albany 1, N. Y.—307 New Post Office Building.

Baltimore 2, Md.—801 U. S. Appraisers Stores.

Boston 9, Mass.—701-A U. S. Custom House.

Buffalo 3, N. Y.~340 Post Office Building.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa—200 Post Office Building.

Chicago 7, 111.—1204 Post Office Building.

Cincinuati % Ohio.—509 Post Office Building.

Decatur, 111.—324 Standard Office Building.

Denver 2, Colo.—573 U. S. Custom House.

Duluth 2, Minn.—338 Post Office Building.

Enid, Okla.—319 Post Office Building.

Fort Worth 2, Tex.—404 U. S. Court House.

Galveston, Tex.~216 Post Office Building.

Grand Forks, N. Dak—2003 Skidmore Avenue.

Great Falls, Mont.—251 Post Office Building.

Hoboken, N. J.—225 Post Office Building.

Hutchinson, Kans.—200-A Post Office Building.

Indianapolis 4, Ind.—215 East New York Street, Room 303.

Kansas City 6, Mo.—325 U. S. Court House.

Los Angeles 12, Calif.—1534 Post Office Building.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 61

Louisville 2, Ky.—301 Post Office Building.

Memphis 3, Tenn.—404 Hickman Building.

Milwaukee 2, Wis.—642 Post Office Building.

Minneapolis 1, Minn.—116 Federal Office Building.

Nashville 3, Tenn.—500 U. S. Court House.

New Orleans 12, La.—333 St. Charles Street, Room 1401.

New York 7, N. Y.—139 Centre Street, Room 805.

Ogden, Utah—379 Post Office Building.

Omaha 2, Nebr.—506 Omaha Grain Exchange Building.

Peoria 2, 111.—355 Post Office Building.

Philadelphia 6, Pa.—1002 U. S. Custom House.

Portland 9, Oreg.—525 Post Office Building. (P. O. Box 3781.)

St. Joseph 54, Mo.—331 Post Office Building.

St. Louis 1, Mo.—1001 U. S. Court House and Custom House.

San Francisco 11, Calif.—749 New Appraisers Building, 630 Sansome Street.

Seattle 4, Wash.—622 Federal Office Building.

Sioux City 16, Iowa—208 Post Office Building.

Spokane 8, Wash.—415 Post Office Building.

Toledo 4, Ohio—337-347 Summit-Cherry Building.

Wichita 2, Kans.—204 Palace Theater Building.

General Field Headquarters, Chicago 7, 111.—1108 Post Office Building.

Pacific Coast Field Headquarters, Portland 5, Oreg.—345 U. S. Court House.
62 MISC. PUBLICATION 3 2 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Appendix I

SPECIAL MALTING GRADES FOR HANNCHEN AND

HANNA BARLEY

Malting grades of Hannchen and Hanna barley become effective

July 1, 1950.

Two new special grades are added to the official standards—Choice

Malting Two-rowed Western Barley and Malting Two-rowed Western

Barley. The Choice Malting special grade is limited to barley of the

Hannchen or Hanna varietal types which contains not more than 3

percent of other varietal types and which also meets the requirements

for grade No. 1 Western Barley. Also such barley must have a test

weight of at least 52 pounds and contain not more than 5 percent thin

barley and not more than 5 percent of skinned and broken kernels.

The Malting special grade applies to grades 1,2, and 3 Western Barley

of the Hannchen or Hanna varietal types which contain not more

than 5 percent of other varietal types, which have a test weight of

at least 50 pounds, and which contain not more than 10 percent of thin

barley and not more than 10 percent of skinned and broken kernels.

Frosted, steely, smutty, garlicky, ergoty, bleached, or stained barleys

are excluded from these special grades.

The sieve used for determining "thin" or "undersized" barley in the

above special grades for Hannchen and Hanna barley has slotted

perforations 5%/64 by % inch wide, while a smaller perforation

{4:%/64: by % inch) is used in the seive for making this determination

in the "eastern" Malting barley subclass.

The new malting grades for two-rowed barley apply only to Hannchen or Hanna varietal types grown west of the Great Plains area.

The malting subclass for six-rowed barley applies to qualified sixrowed barley grown east of the Rocky Mountains. Table 5 shows

the specifications for "eastern" six-rowed malting and "western"

two-rowed Malting barleys.
TABLE 5.—Specifications for eastern 6-rowed and western ^-rowed malting barleys, by subclass or special grade

Subclass and special grade Type

Limit of

unsuitable

types—as

2-rowed, trebi,

or black

Grade

requirements

Mellow

requirements

Limit thin

barley

(percentage

through

4% sieve)

Limit

skinned

and

broken

Limit

damaged

Test

weight

per

bushel

Subclass: (A) Malting Barley ^ Eastern

6-rowed.

Hannchen

or Hanna.

do

Percent

5 1-3

1

1-3

Percent

75

80

60

Percent

15

Percent

5

5

10

Percent

4

2

7

Pounds

43

Special grades:

Limit of other

varietal types

(Percentage

through

5}^ sieve)

Choice Malting 2-rowed Western Barley.2

Malting 2-rowed Western Barley.2

3

5

5

10

52

50

1 Excludes bleached and semisteely barley.

2 Excludes bleached, semisteely, frosted, smutty, garlicky, ergoty,

and stained barley.

For complete grade specifications, see Handbook of Official Grain

Standards (12). Except for the larger perforations in the sizing

sieve, the laboratory procedure for determining the malting factors

of thin barley, mellow kernels, skinned and broken, and damaged

barley are the same as described for "eastern" 6-rowed Malting on

pp. 18-20.

O

>

o

H

W

CO
64 MISC. PUBLICATION 32 5, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

Appendix II

QUICK REFERENCE CHART FOR GRADING PROCEDURES

Steps to be followed in grading the usual run of grain at the country

elevator.

ALL GRAINS

(1) Smell all samples and examine for presence of insects, heating, stones, and cinders, and other obvious conditions that may aifect

the quality of the grain.

(2) Cut the sample to ll^ to 1^4 quarts through the Boerner

sampler, filling an airtight container for moisture testing with some

of the left-over portion. When using electric tester, insert a thermometer in a rubber cork and use as a cover for the airtight container.

(Fig. 9, p. 28.)

References: Grading procedure in general (pp. 7-8). Sample

grade and distinctly low quality grain (pp. 37-39). Special grades

such as Blighted, Ergoty, Garlicky, Smutty, Tough, and Weevily

(pp. 39-49). After the preliminary examination the necessary determinations are made. Ordinarily, only the limiting factor needs to be

determined. (For further study, page references are given under

individual grain headings.)

CORN

(1) See item (1), above.

(2) Make test weight (p. 25), using the 1% to I14 quarts as specified

in step (2) above.

(3) Determine moisture (pp. 27, 28).

(4) Remove cracked corn and foreign material (p. 35) using test

weight portion ( 1% to 1% quarts). Look for insects in the screenings.

(5) Cut cleaned sample to approximately 250 grams and pick for

damage (p. 32). Pieces of cracked corn too large to pass through

the 12/64 sieve function as sound unless otherwise damaged.

(6) If it is necessary to make color determinations, use the 250-

gram portion (step 5). (See corn classes, p. 17.)

(For further study, see references {12) and (i^) listed on p. 60.)

SOYBEANS

(1) See item (1) under all grains, page 64.

(2) Make test weight (p. 25), using ly^ to 1^4 quarts (step 2, p. 64).

(3) Determine moisture (pp. 27-28).

(4) Cut sample to approximately 125 grams through a divider and

determine foreign material, using the %4 round-hole sieve (p. 36).

Pick off large foreign material remaining on top of the sieve and

add to the foreign material that went through the sieve.

(5) Sieve a cut-down portion over the %4 round-hole sieve. Without removing any coarse foreign material, weigh the sieved portion

and determine splits (p. 36).

(6) Use the sieved portion (step 5) to determine other colors and

damaged kernels if necessary (pp. 33-34).

(For further study, see references {12) and {IS) listed on page 60.)
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 65

WHEAT

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64). Note Garlicky grade

(pp. 43-44).

(2) Run dockage test (pp. 20-22). Look for insects in the screenings.

(3) Make test weight on dockage-free sample (p. 25).

(4) Determine moisture (pp. 27-28). (See p. 47 for Tough grade.)

(5) Analyze a 50-gram portion of dockage-free sample for foreign

material and damaged grains (pp. 31-32, 37).

(6) Make smut ball determination on 250 grams of dockage-free

sample (p. 45).

(7) Analyze 25 grams of dockage-free sample for wheats of other

classes.

(8) Make subclass analysis (dark, hard, and vitreous kernels, etc.)

on this,25-gram portion (pp. 16-17).

(For further study, see references {11)^ {12), and {18), p. 60.)

OATS

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2^ Determine test weight (pp. 25-26).

(3) Determine moisture (pp. 27-28). (Tough oats, p. 47.)

(4) Oats are divided into four groups on their general appearance,

as follows:

{a) Bright, a special grade designation (p. 42).

(b) Unqualified or "straight" grade, may grade No. 1 or No. 2.

{c) Slightly weathered may grade no higher than No. 3.

{a) Badly stained or materially weathered, may grade no higher

than No. 4.

(5) Cut sample to about 30 grams. Analyze for sound cultivated

oats. Sound cultivated oats includes kernels, pieces of kernels, of

cultivated oats, green immature kernels, oat groats, and hulled oats

not otherwise damaged. (Oat clippings and detached oat hulls are

considered as foreign material. ) Analyses for foreign material, wild

oats, and heat damaged kernels, if important, can be made on this

30-gram portion (pp. 35, 36).

(6) Make thin oats test on 1% quarts of grain (p. 46).

(For further study, see reference (i^), p. 60.)

GRAIN SORGHUMS

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2) Make test weight (pp. 25-26).

(3) Determine moisture (pp. 27-28).

(4) Grain sorghums are divided into four groups on their general

appearance, as follows:

{a) Bright, a special grade designation (p. 42).

{h) Unqualified or straight grade, may grade No. 1 to No. 4.

{G) Discolored, a special grade designation (p. 42).

{d) Badly weathered, grades Sample grade.

(5) Using 1% to 11/4 quarts of the original sample, determine dockage with 2^/64 round-hole sieve. Look for insects in the screenings.
66 MISC. PUBLICATION 325, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE

(6) Using the dockage-fi^ee sample, determine cracked kernels, for^

eign material, and other grains (a grade factor) (p. 35).

(7) Using 50 grams of the sieved cleaned grain, make further analysis for nongrain sorghums, damaged kernels, and class (p. 35).

Nongrain sorghums include broomcorn, Sudan grass, Johnson grass,

and cane seed ; damaged kernels include weevil-bored, sprouted, moldy,

and heat-damaged grain sorghums, nongrain sorghums, and other

grains.

(For further study, see references {12) and (Í6'), p. 60.)

RYE

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2) Determine dockage (pp. 22-23). Look for insects in the screenings.

(3) Run moisture test (pp. 27-28). Tough rye, p. 47.

(4) Make test weight (p. 25).

(5) Determine "thin rye" (pp. 44-45). "Thin rye" is restricted to

5 percent in the special grade "Plump" to 20 percent in grades No. 1

and No. 2, and to 30 percent in grade No. 3.

(6) Determine foreign material (pp. 36-37).

(7) Determine damaged and heat-damaged kernels.

(For further study, see reference (^^), p. 60.)

FLAXSEED

(1) See items (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2) Determine dockage (pp. 23-24).

(3) Run moisture test (pp. 27,28) on sieve-cleaned flaxseed.

(4) Make test weight (p. 25), using 1% to li/4 quarts of the sieve

cleaned flaxseed.

(5) Determine damaged kernels (p. 33).

(For further study, see references {12) and (iJ),p. 60.)

MIXED GRAIN

The standards provide a limit to "other grains" allowed, as follows :

In wheat, corn, rye, grain sorghums, and soybeans, 10 percent.

In flaxseed, 20 percent, and in barley and oats 25 percent.

When these limits are exceeded the sample is classed as mixed grain.

All determinations in mixed grain are on the basis of the original

sample.

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2) Determine the percentage of each kind of grain, and the percentage of foreign material. Wild oats are classed as a grain. Foreign material includes all matter other than grains for which standards have been established under the United States Grain Standards

Act, except wild oats.

(3) Determine test weight.

(4) Determine moisture.

(5) Determine damaged and heat-damaged kernels on 30-gram

portion.
GRAIN GRADING PRIMER 67

(6) Mixed grain has two grades: Mixed Grain and Sample Grade

Mixed Grain. The percentage and name of each kind of grain constituting over 10 percent of the mixture, as well as the term "foreign material" and the percentage thereof, are all shown as part of

the grade designation. There are seven special grades, namely. Tough,

Smutty, Ergoty, Garlicky, Weevily, Blighted, and Treated.

(For further study, see reference {12) ^ p. 60.)

BARLEY

(1) See item (1) under all grains (p. 64).

(2) Kun dockage test (p. 23).

(3) Make test weight on dockage-free sample (p. 25).

(4) Determine moisture (pp. 27-28).

(5) Determine class : Barley, class I, comprises white barley grown

east of the Rocky Mountains. Western Barley, class III, comprises

white barley grown west of the Great Plains area. Use the grade

chart that applies. (See Handbook of OiScial Grain Standards {12).)

(6) Cut out a 30-gram portion from the dockage-free sample, and

make determinations (steps 7-11) as follows:

(7) Sound barley includes skinned and broken kernels and green

immature kernels (p. 34).

(8) Broken kernels (a separate grade factor).

(9) Foreign material (does not include other grains, wild oats,

or smut masses).

(10) Blighted barley (p. 42).

(11) Wild Oats in Western Barley.

( 12) Determine heat-damaged kernels. (Pearl a 50-gram portion.)

(13) Determine general appearance: Bright Western Barley and

Stained Western Barley are special grades. Barley in class I and class

II that is badly stained or materially weathered shall not be graded

higher than No. 4.

For Malting Barley Subclass (pp. 18-20) determine:

(14) Sizing (p. 18).

(15) Mellowness (p. 18).

(16) Skinned and broken (p. 19).

(17) Damaged kernels (p. 20).

(18) Unsuitable malting types (p. 20).

For special grades for two-rowed Western Malting Barley, see Appendix I (pp. 62-63).

(For further study, see references {10) and (^^), p. 60).

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEvlSBO
314^