Bismarck daily tribune., 1912-03-26
Standardization Progresses
But Will Be 10 Force for
Some Time
Grades on Moisture, Content
and Refuse To Be De.
cided by Congress

WASf1IlNT1ON MdTCu Ho.-1I0AA
Standardization is a system toward
which the department of agriculture
has been working for some time.
Grain growers and grain handlers are
looking forward to the enforcement OF
the system from various angles. AT
the recent meeting of grain handlers
in Washington, consisting of represen.
tatives of the NationalGrange, the Ma.
tional Grain Growers association and
the National Grain Dealers associa.
tion, the chairman of the meeting said
he was certain that government stand
ardization Of grain would come, but
was in hope it would not be enforced
Immediately. as-there was a bad grain
crop on hand. 81.
At a conference of the grain men
with the secretary of agriculture. the
secretary of the reasury and the Sec
retary of commerce and labor the
dealers were assured the standardiza-
ton regulation would not be enforced
Immediately. " -
~. Congress to Get Matter. a., :.
: This statement can be supplemented
by the information from the depart
ment Of agriculture that the standard
ization test will not be applied to all
grain for perhaps Awo or three years.
The department has been working up
the data for standardizing grain for
five years past, but it is such an i'm
mense subject that it is expected It
win be left for congress to deal with
as congress dealt with the provision
Of establishing cotton grades. sys.
TEN that has now been officially &C.
cepted by the pr ncipal cotton ex-
changes of the country. ~ |
The bureau Of plant industry of the
department Of agriculture, under Dr..
B. T. Galloway, announces that it al
ready has the data necessary for the
grading Of corn. The facts regard
ing the other cereals will take long
er to complete. There will be a
meeting of the grain men in WASH.
ington, probably next September, at
which the facts selected will be sub.
mitted for their consideration, and
there n no reason th4t The system 81
stadardization should not be put in
force unoflicially for the next years
corn crop, but Official action will wait
on congress.
Work Of Bureau.
The bureau of plant industry wants
to fix grades of corn. definitely as to
moisture content. acidity and the
amount of dirt, lash and broken ker-
nels permissible. It has been work
ing on the moisture problem for a
long time because this has most to do
with the heating and fermentation OF
grain in storage. A special apparatus
was devised for quickly and accurate
ly determining the amount of moisture
present. It is applicable to either
whole corn or cornmeal. 1t consists
in boiling the corn with a certain
grade of oil and trapping and measure
ing the water extract. 1t has been de.
termined that II per cent is the limit
of moisture that ought to be allowed
in good corn.
A circular already has been pre-
pared for the use of asylums and other
institutions showing how purchased
corn and cornmeal can be tested for
moisture, acidity and refuse, so that
the institution may know exactly what
It is getting. THIS work has been
done largely by J. w. T. Duval.
important Step
The department realizes that with
the enormous corn crop of tie United
States the establishment of ofhcia1
g1ades will be an immense and i'm
portant step. Such action, 1t is
thought will be a valuable ono, az it
will fix definitely the values q grower
and q DEALER have a right to expect.
The laboratory of poison plant in
vestigatton has been working also on
the acidity o; corn and the molds,
ferments and other poisons generated
in bad corn. It has found that acids
of the carbolic acid group are respon"
sible for tho cor" pLisons and has
fixed a poiat above which acidity
should not be tolerated in corn for
human consumption. There will have
to be many other experiments, how.
ever. before the department can de-
termine the point below which corn
should not be used for stock food.
The acid standard adopted is that
in use in italy ard Austria, where
pellegra ds a scourge. MANY Of the
experiments with corn poisons have
been made with view to determining
whether or not spoiled corn is really
responsible for pellagra, as has been
popularity believed abroad for years.
No conclusion has been reached by
the department. .F+
The responsibility for the disease
has not been fixed on corn and this
much agrees nth the investigations
OF the public health and marine hos
pital surgeons. It has been found.
however, that fermented corn does
furnish somes new poisons andone OF
these has been isolated and is being
studied carefully. 5 I'd