El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-25


oats. barley and rye, are practically the
same from the time the crop leaves. the
hands Of the farmer until it reaches
those of the consumer. There is one
| popularity about existing grain mar
/ keting systems, ana that Is that there
Is one way of handling grain east OF
the Rocky mountains and another west
{ OF them. East Of the Rockies the
[ grain is handled in bulk, except as il
! leaves the hands Of the small farmer.
/ He hauls il to market in ags but il is
| thereafter poured into elevators or cars.
( The usual practice is for the farmer
I to sell his grain to a nearby mill or
/ elevator, within wagon hauling dis
/ lance. although at times he loads a car
I or cars direct to some primary market
How Elevators Sell Grain.
West Of the Rockies it is handled in
: bags throughout There are three KINDS
I OF elevators handling grain; the line
elevators, which are a part of a sys-
tenn Of elevators operated under one
management, and with larger hand
/ ling plants in the big grain markets
| Independent elevators, which have
nothing to do with the elevator trust"
and farmers elevators, owned and ope-
rated directly by associations Of farm
ers. The Independent and farmers eIe-
Vators sell through commission men,
who are members of grain exchanges.
me prices received are called SPOT
or cash" prices. TO distinguish the
sales from futures" Some grain is
sold Ito arrive" in q specified number
Of days; other grain is sold "on the
track or before it is unlOaded from
the cars; and the major portion of the
remainder in store" that is in the big
elevator. There are two kinds of eIe-
vators in the big marketable public
elevators and the private ones. The
former are open 70 the public. and de-
livery to one Of these is accepted as
oenVery 70 the purchaser. In the
states where there is grain inspection
public elevators are under state juris-
diction
Buyer Needs Plenty OF Capital.
The farmer usually sells his grain
for cash. hence the grain buyer needs a
considerable capital, much Of which he
may have to borrow The country buyer
may have as much as 90 percent Of the
value of the grain he ships advanced 10
him, the commission dealer making the
advance charging him interest on the
same amount so advanced The farmer
who prefers to hold his grain for bet.
ter prices may borrow a reasonable
amOLnt for his immediate needs BY
pledging his elevator receipts as Sc
eurity.
A grain elevator may serve not only
to store and transfer grain, but it may
undertake to clean and mix it as well.
II very frequently happens that one
farmer may bring in a lot Of Nc.
wheat that is just a little under the
standard for No. !. Another farmer
brings in a lot that is No. 8, but which,
by having a little No 2 mixed with it.
might pass easily as No. . In this
way nothing is taken from the value
of the first lot, while a good deal is
added to the value Of the second lot.
This applies to other grains as well
as wheat. and adds something to the
profits Of the elevator business.
Grain for Export.
In the export grain business grain
shipped from Atlantic ports usually
goes with bill Of lading attached. When
It's quality IS certified to when loaded
at Baltimore or Newport News, that
certification is accepted as the basis
Of payment by the English importer,
no matter what the condition of the
cargo is upon arrival From the Gulf
ports shipment usually is made on
what are known as rye" conditions:
that is the exporter must stand the
chances Of deterioration en- route.
Except where there are state grain
inspectors grading is done by repre-
sentatives Of boards of trade samples
being taken from each carload or lot OF
grain received, and the grading being
based thereon.
Loading Crops Into Cars.
As a rule, the farmers Of the Mis-
sissippi valley grain belt haul their
grain to market loose In wagon beds,
frequently loaded therein direct from
the threshing machine. 1t is dumped
out into big pits from which the ele-
vatOr machinery carries II TO the top
of the elevator, where It is weighed and
distributed. When the grain is loaded
from the elevator into cars, these can
be filled, frequently, as rapidly as one
car every 10 minutes. When loading Z
lake steamers, some Of which carry as
high as 400, 600 bushels a large num- Z
Der of spOuts are extended into an equal .
number of matches. With canal boats !
as much as 5000 bushels can be loaded I
in an hour. In unloading a ship big i
spOuts or marine legs" are let down b
IL
scoops, drawn by cables but guided by 4
hand are used to draw the grain from 4
the distant parts Of the hold to the T.
spouts, where it is caught up and car 4
ried into the elevators.
Pacific Coast ships to Liverpool.
The grain growers Of the Pacific /
coast do not look to Chicago or to !
Minneapolis for their markets. They
find it cheaper to send their grain 4
around Cape Horn to Liverpool Is 900 /
miles than to Minneapolis, 1000 miles .
away. On the Pacific coast grain is I
handled in warehouses instead OF ele- 4
vators. for export grain from the Pa
cific coast goes in sacks and not in .
bulk Insurance companies, recognizing /
the danger Of shifting cargOes when /
grain is shipped in bulk for this long
distance, insure only grain loaded in
sacks.
Marketing Livestock.
The market system by which live
stock is handled from the farm and the
range to the packing house, and thence
the dressed products to the consumer,
is an interesting one, and many a
extracts his living and his
savings out of il en- route. We usually
see the cattle and sheep that are fat
tened for market starting out from
some large ranch. or from some farm
where the owner thinks it more profit
able to raise them for the feeder than
to feed them himself. The sale Of this
cattle is made mostly through commits
sion houses. After fattening they are
shipped TO other commission houses I
and these sell them to the packer.
The big stock yards of a mOiIarn 1
packing town are a sight to see The
Union stock yards at Chicago. cover
500 acres; they have $1,000 enclosures.
and can furnish accommodations for I
IS, 600 cattle. 125 600 sheep, 800, 900 hogs
and 5000 horses. The handling facilities Q
are so arranged that so carloads Of live 4
stock can be detrained in Is minutes T
The chutes are made a car length apart.
and a whole trainload may be in pro
cess of unloading at the same moment. I
Commission Men in Deals.
In selling the cattle the owner is
usually represented by a commission Z
man. The buyer may be representative
Of a packing house, the representative
Of a farmer or feeder, an exporter or a
man trading on his own hook and re-
lotting them, so that the various lots
will sell better. The market is usually
or-ar nv fha middle of the affer,-.- 3