East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-08-13
NEWS OF FARM AND RANCE
IN HANDLING
WHEAT IN THE BULK.

Heralding the advent Of a new
method of handling wheat in this
county. Wesley w. Harrah, prominent
member OF the Farmers Union. has
this year dispensed with sacks and Is
handling every bushel of his big crop
in the bulk. He IS thus the first
farmer in Umatilla county to aban-
don the sack system for the elevator
system and he Is doing it solely for
the purpose Of preparing the way for
the universal adoption of the latter
On his Wild Horse ranch near this
city. Mr.. Harrah has had constructed
large concrete bins, the permanency
OF these structures testifying to his
faith in the system which Is univer-
sally in use in every wheat section OF
the United States except the west He
built his combined harvester over, in
creasing the capacity of the hoppers
and reconstructing the elevator. He
has three wagons with beds so built
that they can be dumped by means Of
turn drive beneath the spot of the
machine until they are loaded and
then are driven to the bins where
they are dumped. The capacity Of
the hoppers Is such as to insure
against the necessity of stopping the
harvester TO wait for the arrival of
an empty wagon. They will hold the
grain of fifteen minutes cutting.
Mr. Harrah was one of 32 farmers
in the northwest. all members of the
| Farmers Union, who pledged them
| selves two years ago to adopt the
bulk method of handling grain. He
was the only one from Umatilla coun-
| ty. Because they were pioneering il,
| all expected to lose a little money in
the venture at the outset but Mr.. Har-
rah declares he has had such success
| that he will make a saving this year.
| The building Of elevators at Portland.
| Seattle and Astoria make it possible
| for these farmers to ship their grain
and have their cars readily unloaded
! Throughout the middle west the
system IS in vogue and Mr.. Harras
/
og 22 cents a bushel to the farmer
in the harvesting of his crop. The
| first saving comes in the elimination
| of sacks which add several cents a
bushel to the cost of harvest. The
! hauling direct from the machine to
the warehouse makes one handling OF
! the grain serve where, under the pres
ent systm of dumping ana hauling
from tn field two are required. The
labor bill is reduced, inasmuch as two
| sackmen become extraneous. They
are generally high priced men, where,
as any man who can drive a team
can drive the wagons. The elimina
tion of the waste from grain spilled
by the sackmen, from broken sack!
and from the extra handling also re
suits in a considerable saving.
This is all on the farmers end o.
IT, The handling of grain in bulk a
the shipping points also results il
a great saving, declares Mr.. Harrah
At present there are only few mel
employed in unloading cars of sacked
grain and the inevitable result is tina
there is a congestion in the yards
Cars stand for several days before be
ing unloaded, resulting in demur
rage charges and at the same time
shortage of cars inland. Bulk whea
can be transferred from car to eleva
tor in minutes where it takes hour
under the old system.
Moreover, he says. a full week i
now required to load a ship with
cargo of grain. In that week the YES
sci probably loses half of its crew
The stevedore charges must be met
An elevator can load a ship in a fey
hours and but few hands are re
quired. The great saving of tim
naturally works, he declares towar
a reduction in shipping costs.
The handling of grain in sacks ais
gives the buyers an accurate knowl
edge of the amount of grain eac
farmer has, Mr.. Harrah declares, an
they use this knowledge to their ad
vantage. They sell the sacks and tn
unused ones are returned. 1t is
matter of addition and subtraction
therefore, for them to determine tn
crop of each farmer. Altogether. Nj
Harrah declares the handling of graf
in bulk is so much superior to tn
present system that there is no com
parison. He has advocated it to tn
farmers for several years as an OF
ficial of the Farmers Union and h
is demonstrating that he has the coul
/ age of his convictions.
n
To Buy Cavalry Horses - w.
l Taylor. we'll known stockman
Athena. will be in Pendleton SatuI
day for the purpose of buying cay
\ airy horses for the government II
has a contract for supplying shipmen
of these horses from time to time.
Harvest 95 Percent Over-Practit
ally 95 per cent of the 1914 whet
: crop of Umatilla is now in the sacl
. according to the best informed au
: thorities, and the earliese finish /
: history is drawing near. There ar
between 25O,O and 100000 acres
grain this year in the county an
there are not more than 10000 sti
standing, il is estimated. The gref
: majority of the farmers have finishe