The Grit-advocate., 1904-07-22
Taking Care of the Crops.

Wheat that has been wet in the
shock, sprouted. bleached. musty
stuff. mean to handle and impossible
to grind. this is the worst of all evils
which may beset the operative and
one Of the greatest sources of loss in
running the mill.
There is also the wheat which has
gone into the stack in apparent good
share and because of bad winds and
heavy rains become soaked with wa
ter aud then by heating become stack
burned and mouldy. or gone into the
bins in damp condition and come
out later as bin-burned wheat, which
is not only deceptive stuff to buy,
but which makes unsound flour and
loss If by any mschance it reaches
the rolls.
No other subject is of more vital
importance to millers than the quality
of the wheat they grind. The miller,
by force of business necessity. has
no use for poor wheat. Unlike the
statistican or the crop estimator. he
thinks less of the number of total
bushels raised or the given number
of bushels per acre than he does of
the quality of the grain and the pro-
portion of it which finally reaches his
bins in condition which will allow
it to be milled into the pure. uniform
product upon which his trade is
based.
In the settlement of new coun-
try, where the production of wheat
largely exceeds the local demand ard
the farmers are poor and have not
the means to build granaries to hold
their crops, there is a heavy move
ment of wheat from the machine" as
the quickest and easiest method of
getting the grain raised off their
hands. To get the money it brings
into circulation is the one ambition
of the farmer. The greater the num-
Der of acres of wheat he can raise,
the cheaper the cost of production,
and the celerity with which it is
rushed to market counts for more
tnan quality OF product. Under such
conditions there is little stacking of
wheat and all the rains and winds
have fuil opportunities to damage.
The most promising outlook of a fine
quality of wheat will be ruined in a
week of bad weather while the farmer
is waiting for the machine and as
his neighbors are in the same en-
pectant attitude, a period of bad
weather succeeding harvest will ruin
good grain and cause the loss of thou
sands of dollars in the lowering of
grades.
The best and most successful farm
ers have learned from years of ex
perience that it pays to stack their
grain, especially their wheat That
mysterious process of going ''thrcIsh
the sweat by which wheat is i'm
proved in color and strength after be-
ing cut, had best be passed in the
stack, for investigators and experts
have found that the longer the period
during which the berry remains in
the chaff and straw the greater is the
improvement of its quality.
The market depression which fol
lows the custom OF rushing the wheat
to market Immediately after harvest
is too well known to need any COM
ment The supplies are temporarily
larger than the power of absorption
and prices are lowered = in conse-
Quence, to the greatest detriment to
the farmer himself. The miller later
on suffers from this cause by having
the cheap wheat exported to be
brought into competition later in the
crop year.
The interests of the miller in taking
care of the wheat and having the
farmer hold it as long as possible
for gradual marketing is evident.
There is nothing which can be done
to regulate or control the weather,
but all arguments favor the best pro-
lection which can be given the crop
from the elements. AS the harvest
season approaches farmers should be
urged to stack their wheat and give
it the best chance possible to be
high in grade and dry and sweet
when threshed. If threshed in a dry
condition there is little danger Of
loss of grade afterwards. A differ
ence Of 10 to Is cents a bushel in
price because of quality alone is often
the result of stacking wheat in wet
season. The farmer is the winner and
the miller is glad to pay full prices
for the best grain. and he don't want
the poor stuff at any price.
The question of the best care OF
the crops is of increasing Importance
as milling demand requires more of
the wheat raised. Advanced farming
methods grow up side by side with
increased milling facilities and both
are benefited. There are no two
classes which are in such close de-
pendence upon each other as the
miller and the farmer. The success
of the one usually means the success
of the other. In no other particular
do the two interests harmonize as in
the Improvement OF the wheat crop.
No other element will improve the