St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-30
THE DULUTH INSPECTION.
Statement of Inspector Burdick: n
10 The Reported Troubles.

Statement of Inspector Burdick: as
TO the Reported Troubles.
In Yesterday mornings GLOBE appeared
a special dispatch from Fargo detailing
grievance of Eli Green, a farmer who had
shipped wheat to Duluth. 1t was stated that
the first eighteen cars were graded No. l
hard, when, it is said. the elevators called
the inspectors together, claiming that less
than rs per cent. of the shipment
was Scotch Fife although grading
No. hard, whereupon the remainder OF
the forty-five cars were graded No. l
Northern, making difference to Mr.. Green
of about 81. 500. These $4,000 bushels
averaged over twenty-five bushels per acre,
and MI. Green expects to have 200 bush
els. He has 240 acres of Saskatchewan
hard wheat, which has been popular In
North Dakota the last year or two, but
under the last ruling will not probably go
No. / hard, because of the action of the
Minnesota state board in establishing the
rule that at least rs per cent. must be Scotch
Fife 1t is believed the board did not fully
appreciate the circumstances when they
made this rule, as one kind Of hard wheat
is as good as another.
Chief Inspector Burdick was asked as to
the above statements yesterday, and he said
they were
LARGELY ERRONEOUS.
He had known of some of Mr.. Green's
wheat being shipped to Duluth, and that
on some of it there had been reinspection
asked. Il do not know how
much wheat Mr.. Green may have sent
to Duluth" said Mr.. Burdick, ''but do
know that there has been a second inspec-
ton of three cars, and of three only.
crroHad No 1 hard the
first inspection. The elevator men objected
and a second inspection was ordered, when
two of them were graded No. 1 hard
and one No. 1 Northern. The state
ment that the balance of forty-fve
cars, with eighteen out, were reinspected
and the grade changed l know to be mcor-
rect, for those three cars are the only ones
that have been twice inspected. Further,
a commission man at Duluth informed me
that not more than one-tenCh of the wheat
sent to Duluth by Mr.. Green last year
graded No. hard, the great balance of it
being No. 1 Northern"
The statement that one kind of hard wheat
is as good as another must have been made
by some one who did not understand what
he was talking about. Everybody who
has given any attention to the matter knows
that the qualities for which Northwest
ern wheat is noted exist more largely in the
Scotch Fife than any other. Other kinds
may be just as hard, as for instance, the
California hard or the Goose wheat, but for
bread-making these varieties are absolutely
worthless.
''As an instance Of how satisfactorily the
inspection rules are working, day or two
ago we made test at Duluth. A train of
twenty-five cars came in. The inspector at
Duluth began at one end of the
train and Mr.. Gage of the Northern Pacific
Elevator company and A. 3. Robbins of the
Northwestern Elevator company, with my
self, began at the other end. We inspected
each car and made our records, but left
nothing in the car to show each other what
grades we had placed on the several cars.
After the two inspections had been made
we compared notes and found that we
varied in but one car. and out of the twenty
two cars thirteen had been graded No.
hard"
COMMISSIONER MURDOCH
was also shown the above dispatch. He said
he thought there must be an error in it.
If the statement was true, and Mr.. Green
had not been satisfied he should have APP
pealed tor an inspection by three men as
provided for by rule, and if not satisfied
then he should have applied to
the commission, as was his
right, before he kicked and began to calcu-
late his loss on the entire crop. 1t was
too early in the season to gauge an entire
crop by the few car loads that had been
graded. Mr.. Murdoch said he thought the
statement that the board did not appre-
ciate the circumstances when they made
the rule requiring IS per cent. of Scotch
Fife wheat needed no comment from the
board. He wanted to say that if it was
found that by reason of this or any other
provisions which the board had enacted the
farmers were being injured then a change
would be at once made in the interests of
the nrnlncprS