St. Paul daily globe., 1885-05-27
GRADING OF WHEAT.
The Board Of Railroad Commissioners
Holds Long and Interesting Con-
ference With Farmers.
All Parts Of the State Represented
The Question Discussed in All
Its Bearings.
Careful Farmers from the
ssSlouchy'' Ones.
Farmers to Clean Their Product and
Raise the Standard of Min
nesota Wheat.

6a1So the SCanQdTQ OF M1u.
nesota Wheat.
The conference at the state capitol yes
terday of Railway and Warehouse Commits
siOners Baker, Becker and Murdoch with
prominent farmers Of the state proved very
interesting. There were present on the oc-
casion the bonanza farmers Oliver Dali
rymple and w. F. Steele of Dakota, Maj.
Donaldson of Donaldsonyille. Gen. t. HI.
Barrett and T. G. Hodgson Of Grant county,
Hon. Charles Canning of Norman county,
M. P. Jacobs and f. r. Delano of St. Paul,
Mr.. Yerxa of Minneapolis, r. G. Burdick,
chief grain inspector, and A. G. Clawson,
chief inspector of the department at Mime
apolis.
Mr.. Becker gave detailed statement of
the meeting held last Tuesday, for the OBJ
ject of giving information for fixing Minne-
apolis grades of wheat. Mr.. Murdock said
that the Wednesday following the commits
sioners decided that all parties desired as
few grades as possible. They therefore
gravitate toward the idea that these grades
should be about as follows:
THE GRADES PROPOSED.
No. 1. hard, gilt edge, to contain 80 per
NOhV. VI RCOCCll L 11O dllu WClSh udOy y-OlSho
pounds.
No. 1 Northern-This would represent
the wheat grown in the more northern lati-
tudes of the United States, and the grade
would derive all the benefit such designa-
ton would give. The grade would repre-
sent No. regular with No. hard in it.
The question of weight had not been de-
cided upon, and he believed that the weight
fQct On1xy 111ah hIo tn not q tho FQQI
value of the grain. Illinois, after an ex-
perience of eight years, drops out the
weight test on the higher grades. If a
weight test was applied he thought it should
weigh fifty-seyen pounds to the bushel and be
composed of SO per cent. each of hard and
soft wheat.
No. 2 Northern would run parallel to
Chicago No. Q, embracing bulk of soft
wheats, weigh fifty-six pounds to the bushel
and of good milling qualities.
No. spring, to include inferior, shrunken
spring wheat and weigh ffty-four pounds
to the bushel.
Rejected usual grade of musty and
badly grown wheat not fit for No. 3.
Mr.. Murdoch said he made these state
ments as to grades proposed
TO INVITE DISCUSSION
on these points from the gentlemen present.
Mr.. Becker suggested that the weights of
the different grades be first discussed, and
called on Mr.. Burdick for his views. Mr.
Burdick said the first grade, No.
hard, should weigh tifty-eight pounds
to the -bushel, be sound dry and
clean, and be composed Of so per cent. OF
Scotch Fife. He would leave the weight
so as not to leave so much to an inspectors
judgment. No. Northern should be COM
posed of so per cent. of the hard varieties
of wheat, be sound, dry and clean, and
weigh tifty-seven pounds. He believed in
keeping this grade, on which Duluth had
built UP an import fame. No. Northern
should test ffty-six pounds, be sound, dry
and reasonably clean, and of 80 per cent.
hard wheat. This would make good mill
ing grade Regular should be sound and
dry and of the soft varieties, irrespective of
weight, with small per cent. of hard wheat.
This would take in all wheat raised south
of the Hastings & Dakota railway.
TESTS OF WEIGHT
would guide the country elevators, fix
known grades for foreign orders and also
prove guide for exporters and millers.
All of NO.2 Northern would be taken up by
home millers and those at the East for con-
sumption. He then explained how, by
mixing No. hard wheat, milling wheat
was obtained under the old grading of Min
nesota wheat; he was ready to take all risks
of atmospheric changes.
Gen. Barrett agreed that a test of weight
was necessary. He wanted to know what
hard wheat is. Scotch Fife was not always
hard wheat, for when carelessly harvested it
would turn out soft wheat. This fact bred dis
content with growing Scotch Fife, as it was
so apt to fall into both grades and much
trouble come from it, He thought there
fore, there should be a grade for Scotch Fife
by itself, and let all other hard wheats go
into grade by themselves and be called
No. hard. Under this head would then
come blue-stem wheat, a great favOrite in
Grant county and a better yielder by six
bushels to the acre than Scotch Fife, and
which could be graded according to its real
condition. A discussion then followed be-
tween the general and Mr.. Burdick. in
which the former said that farmer could
not SOW two kinds of wheat with success on
the same field, and the latter replied that
nine out of ten farmers in Minnesota SOWed
mixed wheat.
VARIETIES OF HARD WHEAT.
Mr.. Canning of Norman county said he
had seen two kinds of wheat raised from
the same seed. This brought up a dis
cussion on gilt-edge grades, in which it was
stated that the millers' books in Minneap-
oils of late years showed not single pound
of such grades received. Gen. Barrett did
not want blue-stem wheat degraded into
No. 2 Northern. Mr.. Yerxa said there were
seven varieties Of hard wheat, including
Scotch Fife and blue stem, which were so
near alike that an inspector cannot tell the
difference, and, getting into a car of which,
would grade it all hard wheat
Mai. Donaldson said that the farmers of
Kittson county had thrown out blue stem
and White Fife, as it rusted,
and that blue stem, which
proved to be hard in Rice county grew to
be soft wheat in Kittson. All Scotch
Fife wheat was not hard, and he believed
that No. hard should have 80 per cent. of
hard wheat in it.
Mr.. Clawson was sorry there was not
practical miller present to decide on the
values of hard and soft wheat. There was
a vast difference between the Blue Stem and
Scotch Fife as -four producers. Scotch Fife
produced from Is to 20 per cent. more flour
to the bushel Scotch Fife yielded forty
three pounds of fiour.and eleven of bran per
bushel, and Blue Stem yielded only thirty
eight pounds of -four and was hard to sep
arate. Blue Stem was not No. hard, but
No. 2 hard, and No. 1 Northern
would cover it. Scotch Fife
if harvested dry was a hard wheat, but, be-
coming wet and bleached, it was a soft
wheat. A soft wheat well harvested, is
more valuable to miller than hard var
iety badly harvested.
FEW GRADES WANTED.
NJ in fox Of fax rro6 10