Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-21

departments should be controlled is a local
one. and of relatively small importance
What these departments need more than a
change in or uniformity of control is a
greater uniformity in methods of work and
In results. To attain this they must have
more adequate equipment. they must nave
available such apparatus as is necessary TO
educate the judgment of the inspectors Tor
general work and to determine accurately
all cases of doubt or appeal.
Reduced to it's simplest terms, the In
spection and grading of grain consists in
the examination of the various lots or car
goes to determine the uniformity OF each
and the assigning of them to the grades to
which they belong. This would obviously
be simple enough were the elements con-
sfdered in grading all easily measured and
defined, or were they reasonably distinct;
but they are neither. The variations on dif-
ferent lots are frequently SO slight that
If line is drawn which is to mark
limit of a grade it is difficult to determine
in ca Ses close to this line whether they may
be admitted or not
More than this, the qualities considered
do not vary uniformly; for example, one lot
respects but one. while another may be
good in all but some other one point,
and still another may be mediocre In
all respects. For some purposes the
as If 1t had no defect, while for other pur-
poses 1t would be worth less than the other
lots merely on this account. 1t has there
fore been difficult to make rules governing
q
way that is definite and satisfactory. The
men who have made these rules and def1ni-
tons for grades have met this difficulty by
resorting to the use Of indefinite terms and
obscure phrase Il, leaving the responsibility
for their Interpretation almost entirely with
the Inspector"
The Present Needs Outlined.
He defines his opinion of the present needs
as follows:
"One Of the first needs Of the grain trade
in this country Is to have the grade require
ments accurately stated and the grade lin
its accurately defined. Grain grades, II they
mean anything, mean definite relative val
ues."
The elements to be taken into considera-
ton in grading corn he speaks Of thus:
In grading commercial corn there are
two classes Of elements to be considered.
First. those which indicate condition-mois-
ture percentage of moldy, rotten or other
wise damaged kernels, and percentage of
broken grains. dirt and other foreign ma
terial; and, second. those which indicate
quality-color. plumpness. relative proper
ton of starchy to hard material, and rela-
tive size of germ. For present purposes
there are four elements which are essential
in determining the grade of a cargo of corn,
and which may, when necessary, be meas
ured with reasonable accuracy and speed.
These are % the moisture CO the percent
age of colors in mixtures, 90 the percent.
age VI udHltSeu grains, C1J lAC PCASShl16O
of broken grains and dirt.
1.-The relative Importance of these ele-
ments varies under different conditions and
with the different demands which the grain
is used to supply 1t is not to be under
stood that the four elements mentioned are
all that should be considered in grading
corn, but they are at least important and
of such nature that they may be accu-
rately measured; and having these four
generally understood there is available
basis for uniformity which has not up to
this time been offered to the trade
Apparatus Essential.
The apparatus used by the botanist Is a
very essential part of the process of de-
termining the grades. 1t includes balance
with weights, copper oven, or air bath; a
centigrade thermometer, gas heater, a
metal sieve, coffee or spice mill, and a set
of aluminium pans, the estimated cost of
the whole being $57.15.
The following description of the methods
of determining the percentage of the ele-
ments in the corn. before mentioned, is
given by Mr.. Scofeld:
For determining the moisture small
sample of corn should be ground into a
coarse meal If the corn is ground too fine
it becomes heated during the operation and
there Is a consequent and irregular loss of |
moisture. After grinding a definite guam
tity of the sample, it should be weighed out |
in one of the aluminium pans The larger |
this quantity the less the percentage Of |
error in Weighing Is likely to be. However.
for quick work the sample must not be too |
large. Twenty or thirty grams has been
found a convenient amount to use. This
weighed quantity, which for convenience in
reckoning should be an even weight, either
20 or 30 grams. is then placed in the air
bath. which has been previously heated to
about 1922 c. CHS FL. This temperature Is
slightly above the boiling point Of water
and will quickly evaporate the moisture.
and after subsequent Weighing the percent
age of loss may be determined.
Theoretically the sample should be dried
until repeated weighings would show no
further decrease in weight. but for practi-
cal purposes, where the element OF time
required for making these determinations
Is important, shorter time will suffice
1t has been found by numerous experiments
that the amount of moisture which a sam
pie of coarsely ground meal will give up
(215' to 221' F.) Is about III per cent less
than the total amount Of moisture con-
tanned, so that for commercial purposes
two hours drying at the above tempera-
ture will yield results rom which the to-
tai moisture can be estimated with suff1-
cient accuracy for general work. 1t is
necessary, however, to extend this time
to three hours on days when the atmos-
phere is especially damp.
Importance Of Drying Process.
Whenever immediate results are not alb
solutely necessary. 1t Is much safer and
more satisfactory to dry the sample COM
pletely; that is. to dry 1t until repeated
weighings show no further loss. This
commonly requires twelve to sixteen hours
after the samples have been dried they
should be weighed again with all possible
speed, the meal readily absorbs mois-
ture from the atmosphere upon being re-
moved from the air bath. 1t is best in all
cases to make duplicate moisture deter
limitations as errors likely to be made
by even the most careful workman. These |
duplicates should be made from separate
grindings of different portions of the sam
pie Where the results of the two deter
minaton in the short-time drying differ
by more than about per cent a third de-
should be made.
1.-THE percentage of color may be deter
mined by simply counting out the number
Of kernels of each color in fair average
sample. At least 500 kernels should be used