Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-02-27
WAY FROM FARMER
TO DUSTY MILLER
Route Taken by Wheat and Hands
it Must Pass on Its Journey
from Field TO Bakeshop.
PART OF THE GRAIN EXCHANGE

grain from the time It is ripe in the
mill.
A few score years ago Il was very /
simple. The farmer took the wheat. put
It into sacks which he balanced across
his saddle. rode off to the mill a few
miles away and returned the same day
with the same wheat ground into flour
and perhaps ate bread made from it
that same evening.
Today Il is vastly different. The COM
plexites OF modern life have invaded
the movements of the world S staple
food.
The wheat raised on Nebraska farm
may be consumed in Nebraska or in
any other state of the union. Or it may
be made into a four-pound loaf for the
people OF London
It may find its way to France, and there
be made into petit pain or into one
Of those immense loaves, four feet long,
from which the baker cuts and weighs
out just the amount you want TO buy. Or
it may appear on the market in Vienna,
Berlin, Petrograd, Constantinople or al
most anywhere else i'm the wide world
How IL Gets Abroad.
And what is the process by which it
arrives at these far places?
Let us see.
The farmer goes out upon a day and
steps through his wheat field feeling the
heads OF wheat and observing the color
of the field. If he finds the grain ripe
unto the harvest he bitches up to the
binder and goes in and cuts and binds
the wheat into bundles.
The shockers follow and put the bun
dies into shocks. Then It may be hauled
and stored in the barn or in stacks, or
it may be threshed directly from the
shocks.
In either case the grain is received
from the thresher into wagons which
haul it to the farmers granary and
store II there.
Now the farmer has his grain and it
is UP TO him to sell It, To this end he
calls on the elevator man in town to see
what price wheat is. If the price is
suitable, he makes deal at a certain
figure and then hauls the grain from
his granary in to the elevator and gets
his money. Or he may simply haul his
grain in and put It in storage in the ele-
vator to hold it there until the price
Il
sell. In this event he pays a certain
storage charge.
Part of the Elevator Man.
The owner of the elevator gathers his
grain from the farmers and when he
gets enough for a carload, providing
ne thinks 1t a good time to sell, he loads
a car and consigns it to some commission
firm belonging to the Omaha Grain ex-
change.
He takes the bill of lading given him
by the railroad and attaches It to a
sight draft which he puts through his
bank. This draft comes to Omaha through
some bank here.
The firm to whom the grain was con-
signed, and on whom the draft Is made
o,ftr pays the draft through the local
bank and takes the bill OF lading, thus
securing possession Of the car of grain.
II the commission man borrows the
money from the bank with which to
pay for the car Of grain he files with
the bank receipt for the bill of lading.
inspectors Get Busy.
When the car of grain arrives in Omaha
it is placed on the inspection track.
Each railroad has certain sidings set
aside for this purpose.
Early the next morning the inspectors
and their helpers go out from the Grain
exchange to get samples OF each car Of
grain on the inspection tracks.
These men usually begin work at
clock Each inspector has a crowbar, a
ladder seals and sacks and fryer"
Arriving at the inspection tracks they
put the ladder against the first car, break
the seal and open the door with the crow
bar, 60 inside and take three samples
OF grain, one from the middle and one
from each end.
This is done with the ''tryer," which is
long hollow tube with holes at intervals.
When II is plunged down into the grain
the grains flow into II through these
holes Then it is withdrawn and the gr- ia
IL contains emptied onto a square Of can
vas, The grain is then emptied into a
sack, which is labeled with the number
of the car name OF the road and 50 on.
The sample from each car is about one
peck. The inspector reseals the car with
an Omaha Grain exchange seal and goes
on TO the next When they have taken
samples from all the cars they bring them
up to, the Grain exchange building to the
Inspectors department
Getting Down 10 Grade.
There the inspectors put the grain
through a rigid examination, noting tbs
size and quality OF the grains, the dirt ani
foreign matter in the sample, and. in the
case OF corn. giving it a test for moisture.
The inspectors, then fix the grade OF the
grain, whether il is No. hard winter
wheat or No. 3 durum or No. white corn
or No. yellow corn or what It is
This data is written on a card together
= with the car number and the name of
the road, etc. The sample of grain Is
put into pan and this card is placed on
top. The pans fun OF samples are taken
to the big trading room, where the ma
chnery of buying and selling Is and
whore all buying and selling are done.
Here are fourteen marble top tables. Each
table has four drawers and each COM
mission firm has one or more drawers
The pans OF samples are placed in these
drawers according TO the several firms to
which the cars belong.
Just simple.
You see. all is done precisely as gro
ceries or dry goods or shoes would be
sold with the exception that only the
sample OF the goods is on display for the
very obvious reason that it would not be