Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-11-30
CORN OF NEBRASKA
OF HIGHEST GRADE
So Uniformly Good that New
Standard of Grading Prac-
tically Has No Effect.
MOISTURE CONTENT IS Low

The corn in Nebraska and all over
the corn belt which contributes to the
Omaha market is so uniformly good
and hard this year that the new fed
eral standard of grading to go into
effect December will have practi-
cally no effect here.
If there is any effect, it will be to
throw the corn that is received nere
largely. into the No. grade.
The moisture content of the corn
coming in here this year." said Chief
Inspector George B, Powell of the
Omaha Grain exchange, SIS so low
this year that there will be no notice
able effect, The moisture content at
this time of year ordinarily is from
10 to 80 per cent This year, how
ever, the moisture content right now
runs only from IS to 1877 per cent.
This is excellent hard corn
New Federal Standards.
New federal standards of grading
grain, however, are to be, established
for all grains before long. While
the grades for corn are now definitely
established, >the scale of grades for
small grain has not yet been decided
upon. 1t is likely that standard of
moisture content will be fixed for
wheat also, which will be new fea-
ture in wheat inspection,
The United States Department Of
Agriculture has been working on a
scale for small grains for long time,
and the tentative scale of grades this
department is working out is to be
released about December 4. This
does not mean that it will go into eff
feet then. The tentative scale will
merely be made public, and be open
for criticism from grain men all over
the United States. Meetings of grain
men will then be held at Omaha,
Kansas City and other leading mar
kets, where the proposed grades will
be discussed and criticized. The De
partment of Agriculture invites criti-
cism and suggestions as to the i'm
provement of the scale it will pro-
pose.
To Receive Suggestions.
After thorough discussions are held
throughout the country, and after the
government has received the sugges-
tions of the grain men all over the
country, the federal department will
again take up the question and per-
haps revise the scale in accordance
with the best crop of suggestions re-
ceived. 1t will their give a ninety-day
notice before promulgating the new
scale of grades definitely, The scale
will probably not actually go into eff
feet before June |, 1917.
The e'local Office of the inspector will
have to be fitted up with certain ap-
paratus for testing the grains in ac-
cordance with the rules. Standard
apparatus will then be used all over
the United States for this testing.
For Interstate Use. ID,
The new standard of grades on all
grain, however, applies only to inter
state traffic of grain. Only small
percentage OF the gram received III
Omaha come from without the state.
This does not lessen the work of in
spection here, however. as all incom-
ing grains will have to be inspected
with the utmost care, in order to pro-
tect the local dealers on grain they
will ship out of the state, where it will
have to stand the federal test. Thus,
while only a small percentage of the
grain here comes from outside the
state, a very great percentage of it
goes out of the state after it is
handled here.