Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1917-09-27
MARKETS
BULLETIN NO. IS
INFORMATION or UNUSUAL IN.
TEREsT TO IDAHO oRoWKRS
OF WHEAT.
Department Of Agriculture invsstlast.
Ing Alleged Practice OF Grain DesI-
ers In Assessing Farmers = Dis
count Against Wheat Purchased.

The following information has. In
the main, been received from the fed
eral department OF agriculture, rsla-
tive to the assessment Of discounts
against wheat:
ut has been brought to the ntten-
ton OF the United States department
OF agriculture from several sources
that, In certain parts OF the country,
where this years crop OF wheat IL
now being moved, the country grain
dealers are assessing the farmers u
discount against all wheat purchased,
contending that such assessment 10
mandatory by reason of the official
grain standards OF the United States
for wheat under the United States
grain standards act. Apparently the
contention Oh the part or the country
grain dealers Is based upon the item
dockage" contained In the official
standards. From Information received
by the department II appears. however,
that the discount Is actually an arbi-
trnry assessment In the interest OF the
buyers, and Is neither on the basis Of
the Official standards nor required or
contemplated by the act or the regu-
lstions Hereunder.
'rhe primary purpose In the estab
lishment Of the official grain stand
ards Of the United States was to pro-
vide a basis whereby parties to trans
actions Involving the purchase and
sale OF grain shipped or delivered for
shipment In Interstate or foreign com
mercs might, through being able to
obtain Il correct application CT such
sfaHHuF1s a rho aafnql a
and make settlement accordingly. The
standards for wheat do not provide for
any arbitrary assessment for dock
age. They do provide for the deterrnl-
nation OF the amount OF sand, dirt,
weed seeds weed stems and certain
other matter. called dockage. which ac-
tually may be present In lot Of
wheat, the amount Of which, II In ex-
cess OF one-half OF one per cent by
weight is TO be stated In terms OF the
actual percentage as part OF the
grade designation OF the wheat This
Is called the dockage system OF grad
ing and has been In use for many
years In the northwestern states prior
10 the adoption Of the official stand
ards +"
The transactions In question ap-
pear 10 be purely local. not involving
Interstate commerce, and are perhaps
conducted In way not within the
prohibitions Of the act. Nevertheless
ths Department OF Agriculture is in
vestigating the matter and will bs
! glad To have any facts which may be
OF value II will do everything In its
power to bring about the dscontinu.
ance OF Misrepresentation based on
the act or the standards hereunder
The following warning has been
given TO wheat growers
Wheat is attracting, al the presen,
time. greater attention than perhaps
ever before. owing to Its comparative
scarcity and high price and the neces
sity OF sowing II large acreage this
fall" says the department statement
LAS might be expected, therefore
various persons are Offering to the
public varieties that they describe a,
far superior to the kinds now beins
grown. These varitiss are usually
given some catchy name and sXtrava
CANT claims are made for them.
IAN example OF this kind IL tn,
Alaska, or seven headed wheat, tina
was exploited few years ago. Tn,
hackers OF this wheat did not get vsr]
far with IT, however. as the postoffic,
department issued a fraud order anC
their business came to q standstill
This type Of wheat having a large
brsnched head, has been offered a
high prices to the people of this coun
try many times under one name or an
other. Records concerning 1t 20 bacl
more than hundred years. Just nov
another exploitation is threatening I'm
der the name Titanic This type O
wheat with branched heads should b
left strictly alone by the farmers.
Radical claims Of high yields ar
made for some varieties OF wheat.
is not uncommon In advertising 4 ne,
variety for an INSCRIPTIONS or unir
formed promoter to claim yields fou
or FIVE times that OF the average yiel
OF the country. Claims as high as /
or more times the average yield hav
been made In special cases Sue
claims are absurd and no one need b
misled by them. A well-bred varist
In the section to which II Is adapte
may yield a few bushels more than tn
varieties being commonly grown. Yer
seldom. indeed, can a doubling OF tn
yield Is expected.
Buying seed grown at great di
lance from home Is another thing this
wheat growers should be on the
guard against. No wheat grown an
bred for California conditions, for II
stance, no matter how good for Cal
fornia, has been found adapted to III
country east OF the Rockies. Califo
MIA adapted wheats do not succee
east OF that state. Neither would III
whests adapted to the Atlantic Goa,
OF the Mississippi valley succeed
California. In short, home grown see
should be used unless the state agr
I cultural experiment station or Il
United States department OF agricu
ture advises otherwise"