The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-04-17
WEEDS
LOSE $l5,0Oo,0O0
Weeds, in Grain, Shipped to
Terminal Elevators Totals
Millions of Tons.

According to A. l.. Chamberlain. a
prominent ~aGricultrist the farmers OF
the Dakotas. eastern Montana and
Minnesota during 1912. shipped into
Minneapolis nearly 1000. 900 tons OF
weed seed and trash that was deduct
ed by the graders from the amount of
grain contained in the a In other
words. the dockage for weed seed and
trash shipped In has amounted to that
much. On this bulk the farmers have
paid freight ut an average rate OF
about SIS per ton. probably a little
more than that.
Besides the shipments to Minneap-
shipped TO Duluth, Milwaukee ana
other points.
1t is safe to say that the farmers
OF these states have paid for freight
on rash shipped with their grains.
during the past year. $4,000. 900.
When this stuff reaches the cities 1t
is cleaned from the grain and sells
In other words. the farmers have
given away at least SIS, 900, 900 worth
Of feed simply because Of the foul
condition of their elds. the planting of
foul seed. and the failure to clean
their grain before shipping it II they
could not avoid having foul stuff In
1t.
A>eails all VI SAlE Weeu Seeu Is III
the elds and mixed With the grain
because sometime some farmer SOW
ed 1t and the subsequent methods Of
tillage have not been such as to rid
the land Of it. And in too many cases
the farmer keeps on sowing year after
year the same kind of weed seed in
his fields and renews the crop annual
ly. Seed containing authorizations OF
weed seeds that will produce a crop
thai Will have IN No ShipYNo1 hr, the
farmer probably hundreds of miles to
market and the freight paid on it by
him is certainly not good seed.
The statement has often been made
The elevators dock as regard
less of how clean our grain IS" 1t Is
that that Is true provided you
market a small quantity. for the rea-
ate bin for the small quantity Of clean
grain they get. It Is admitted that in
some instances 1t would be true no
matter il all the grains We're cleaned,
If the farmers would let them treat
them in that way" says Mr.. Cham
berlain. have watched pretty close
ly the operation of the Inspection
board in Minneapolis for the past year
n have come in contact with all
of tho proposition. and 1 am
firmly convinced that that board Is
doing about as nearly the right thing
any set Of men could do in the
same position. So far as the inspec-
ton of grains a t Minneapolis is con-
cerned. or for that matter at Duluth,
I do not think there is much. IL any,
ground for complaint. If the local
will not accept clean grain
without docking 1t materially, the
farmers should load it in cars and
it direct. They will not do
that very often until the local eleva-
tors will meet the situation and dis
criminate at least between q consid-
cradle quantity Of clean grain and
foul grain in the matter Of dockage.
preached more strongly the import
of good clean seed than have the
railway companies themselves.
They do not want the farmers
money for hauling tnfsh to, market for
which he does n~otisrecefSe any pay.
They would far prefer that he keep
that trash at home and feed 1t to hogs
live stock Of some kind and ship
only products of his work that give
him a return as we'll as the railway
company.
1 cannot but wonder why it is that
the farmer does not see the matter in
the same light as the railway com.
pany does. There is as much prot to
it in hauling trash that the farmer
ships as there is in hauling clean
grain. But the farmer has not as
much money to spend in improving
his farm and making for himself a
better home as he would have II he
fed this trash to good live stock.