The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1853-12-10

For lie Free Trader
MrssRs, F0'roaz--
Having been repeatedly ASKED Turing he last
month whether there was Statute in ,his State
re.u'aing..te weights Of com and otler grain; !
have thought it proper for the mt,maUau q
those farmers who have lately come amoDc US
who hyae uot statute q. their command. aa vel.
rs to save myself from answering further cues
tons on the subject. to make 4 buai eXJac. from
tie Statue, accompanied with some rcmaIbs
that may not be uu,a.orc-.ins to the ei,acns Ct
this County generally
Revised Laws Of Illinois 1915. chapter los,
Sec. 4.
Contracts hereafter to be cxcc,tej. Md,
within this STATE i,r any work to be done. " .gr
anything 10 be sold, delivered, done CT agreed
fcr by weight or measure. shall lie taken and
continued 20 be made according to the ..a.l,d
weight aud measure thus EscettaineL'
Sec 5.
THE hundred weigh. shall consist Of one hun
drod pounds, and tven!y such weights shall con.
si,Cte ton
Sec 6.
Whenever vLeal, rye, indian corn, harley.
tuekNhea, or cas- shall he cold by tie tu'icl
anl no special agreement as to the weight Or
measurement shall be made ty the parties, The
busbel ,hall coDsi,: Of 60 lbs. oiwleat q lhs Of
rye, 81 Toe, Of indian corn Al los barley 10 .Js
Of tuckwheat, and 60 lbs Of oats"
vide spread and general complaint per
vades the farming interests Of Iii. county, Gpl
the question is every day asked, Why it IS that
The farmer is called upon to deliver 80 It's. O.
corn in tie car for a tushel; with the remark
that this is an advance upan what was required
last year, Of 10 r7 ia the ta,hcl; tia, il this is
submitted to by ther1, rex. year they vii! be
called upon to delig.g 90 lJs for bo.Lel, and
wind up by graycy asking where this is to endi
The see by the papers that 20 lbs is al that Is
required fjr bnshcl, ty tie luyerl in Chicago
md Other towns, except perhaps Lasale and
Peru hence the euQuirins and dissatisfaction.
The reason why the buyers here require the dg.
livery Of 50 lbs. i understood to lie, that when
tie cobs aud shrink. &c in the weight ol corr
are deducted it will leave but sixty in the sr.;nr
Til, is clearly an error of which cry cue can
'aisiy himself by sheliug bushel al d wcislja.
the corn AMI cabs separately. The Autumn has
been exceedingly d,y and fine aud tie coin crop
most oiit, i-yery DIS ard sound, aud most Of
i;woud do to Shell ard hip, and no doubt much
has been sent forward from Chicago air ~. l,s,
NJ Ia, Il
tor shelled . bu.hcl Of corn. s'rck e.sure.
just rs it came from the field that day and
weighed it nccura'cy. The corn weighed inst
Gl lbs. and the cobs pounds ard II OF. At
this rate Go lbs az Of corn in the cob gives 90
lbs ofshol!ed corn leaving lbs II oz Of cobs.
Now oppTeleud it will te difficult to find arv
corn-cxcept perhaps few pieces of very late
planted, that viii produce more than 10 or y
lb', Of cOLs from a bushel Of shcllcd corn If co
lbs
Ia New York corn is.sold, believe by the (
Statute Of 81 lb. for a Jushel II so the buver
here, who takes 50 lbs in the ear for bushel
alter deducting IL lbs. for cobs and say Its. for
shrinkage Of the corn, rhch ia great allowance
for this year, has yet left &C los. wet weight;
EDd when IT arrives in New York and is weighed .
of under their Statute of54 lbs. n bushel, leaves
the buyer here surplus on every busLel Of IL
lbs. or only ! lbs less than peck New-York
weight. In other words he gains almost quar-,
ter. II we allow 10 lbs for cobs, which, is all that
most Of them will weigh, then he gains according
10 the above estimate 81 los. or just one quarter
Now as this corn is being bought here, so lbs
for so ceBt' it will be seen that it is only: rs
cents FOR bushel after all, that the farmer real
ly gets, OF in other words 30 cents for hive recks
New York weight Of "a lbs to the Jushel, or 80
cents for corn enough in the ear TO make 20 lbs
when sleled.
II the above statement be correct ard il is be
lieved they are BASED upon data that cannot be
con'ravened, it then becomes IN iulp0rtan, ques.
ton to farmers Of Lasalle County, whether they
can sustain Themselves and submit to such
tariff upon their Industry. In fact whether they
ought to tolerate il, and ifnot then what means
they can adopt TO remove it. They have only to
sct in concert aud the remedy is within their
reach.
Bat this is.not al; the farmers are not the only
persons whose interests are unravoraOly affected
by such q course Let us see how il affects the
Commercial prosperity Of this City. It Is said
that some extensive produce buyera are already
located at the railroad depot, at or near Erlvile
nbout 90 milee morrill, north west Of Ills City,
md that The farmers, or at leas, some Of them,
south Of Bnck Creek and not more than or 3
miles north Of Ottawa, are earring their corn to
Tie depot ut Ea,lvile. Wh,i Because they
ssa here sell 70 or 4? lbs in lhc ear fo' bush