Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-12-13
CLEAN GRAIN SHOULD SELL
HIGHER THAN DIRTY GRAIN

Yin d0rNttN
The farmers Of Kansas should be
able to sell their grain ON dts merits.
A premium should be placed on the
production Of high grade wheat free
from all foreign material, said Prof.
L. A. FNz, Of the Kansas Agricultural
College, in an address recently.
Kansas law provides for grain in-
spection bureau, the officers 10 con,
stst Of a chief grain inspector and as
many deputies as he may need to do
the work. One branch Of the bureau
is the grain grading commission. hav-
ing three members, one Of whom Is a
miller, another a grain. dealer; the
third may be a farmer. The duty Of
the commission Is to meet once a
year, on or before August /, to form
new rules or revise old ones, when
necessary, for the grading Of grain.
Wheat is graded into four groups.
The commission determines the
weight, quality and approximate
amount Of foreign material in each.
These rules must be definite, accu-
rate and practicable, for an immense
amount Of grain is sold in the state
every year.
Under the existing laws, when whea'
contains an appreciable amount d
foreign material, such as weed seed
and stems, the wheat is graded down
one grade below the place it would
take if it were clean. This grade Is
based on the judgment of an inspec
tor. In Minnesota they have what is
known as the dockage system q
grading wheat. In brief, this is &C
complished by taking a representa- Nv
sample of the wheat and cleaning il
Then the wheat is graded and sold Oh
the basis of the clean wheat, subjec
to as many pounds dOckage as th'
sample showed it to contain. By tht
method the farmer gets paid for al
many bushels of wheat as he has T.
sell and it eliminates enc persona
factor in the grading of wheat.
Ordinarily Kansas hand wheat doe
! not contain much dockage, but a
:. times, due to winter killing, weed
will come into the fields. II tn
wheat is threshed when damp, not Of
ly the weed seed but also pieces Q
II weed stem will remain in the whea
= 1t is usually possible for the thnesf
. ers to take out more of these impur
ties than they do, but it would IT
=. quire more work and as the men sa.
= they get as much for threShing weet
% as they do for threshing wheat 1
the smaM country town having thre
D, or four elevators there is usual
O sharp competition. To keep his trad
n the grain dealer must, when a loa
~ Of poor, dirty wheat comes in, pa
" nearly as much for it as the preyiCr
load that was of average quality an
cleanliness. When another fam'
n brings in a load of extra coed, Pc
y fectly clean wheat, he receives yel
Sh lille increase i'm price. The diffa
IN ence in the prices paid for thrr
. loads does not begin to indicate the
p difference in value. This is almc
Z. like putting a premium on poor fan
ing.
An attempt was made last SUNNI
to get Doctor Crumbine to enfOr
the cleaning Of wheat by thrasher a
elevator men under the Pure Flo
law of Kansas. This law rrovid
that grain to be used for food pl
ducts shall not contain over a q
tain amount of foreign material. tt
law also prohibits the mixing Of SIN
amounts of poor wheat with go
wheat, with special reference
sprouted wheat and other forms I'll
are not fit for human consumpti'
Doctor Crumbine said that If he "
to enforce this law he would fl
warn the thresher and elevator MI
A large number Of these men did .
understand the motive behind
work and resented it as an interf
ence with their rights. The moyem
is merely an attempt to get the gr
Of Kansas sold on its merits and L
offer a premium for good farming
Kansas Farmer.
urAruE1 1E1n1r