Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-01
Dockage.

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The dockage of grain this year will
be very high due to the unusual
growth Of wild oats and other weeds.
This dockage is determined by putting
a small quantity Of the grain through
la small machine, which separates out
the wild oats and other weed seed.
There may. be as high, as 20 to 80
pounds of such seed in every bushel
of wheat. There are records of
higher dockage. If the dockage is is
pounds, it will r~equires'80 pounds of
the mixture to make "a, bushel Of
wheat. An 80-bushel tank would con-
tain only so bushels, and the fact that
the mixture weighs light, will reduce
the grade and so bring a lower price
per bushel.
The proper method OF avoiding this
is to clean up the land so that there
are no weeds grown, for. they reduce
the yield as well as the price. How
ever, the land cannot be cleaned all
at once, and the present crop must
be disposed of as it is; but this is no
excuse for giving away a million and
a half to two million bushels Of
perfectly good feed, When dirty grain
is delivered at the elevator, the mix
ture usually sells for less than the
cleaned grain alone would bring. The
wild oats and other weed seed is
harvested, threshed and hauled to the
elevator and the farmer is charged
for having it in his grain.
wild Oats Valuable.
Wild oats this year is heavy and will
sell on the market for only a few
cents under other oats. It is bought
from the elevators. clipped-the beard
and bristles broken. off-mixed with
other oats, or ground and sold for
feed. What is worse than a dead loss
to the farmers, becomes a source of
big profit to h elevators.
Use a Grain Cleaner. i
There are now on the market simple
and inexpensive cleaners that reduce
the dockage to one pound or slightly
more per bushel. 1t, will take only a
little figuring, If one knows how much
ldockage he is taking, to show the
value Of a grain cleaner. This dock
age should be kept at home and used
Ito fed live stock. A great deal OF 1t
is used after It has been given away,
shipped to the big markets, ground
and mixed with other feeds and ship
ped back. The price is usually only
slightly under bran, which is now
arounds 35 per ton. This wouldsmake
wild oats worth 40 to As cents per
Ibushel. ~
There are many farms equipped
with cleaners, and there certainly
would be many more IL it were real
lied that such a great loss is being
sustained by giving away the wild
oats and other weed seed and light
grain. X
The following extracts from North
Dakota experiment station bulletins
are furnished by Professor J. n.
lShepperd, who has always urged the
cleaning Of grain. both for market and
seed.
Notes On Dockage Of Grain.
BY 7. F. Ladd, N. D, agricultural
college (1892).
"In the average OF ga samples Of
wheat received at the station from
the elevators Of the state, there was
reported a tdockage' for screenings,
etc, Of LIB pounds per bushel, or 2.85
per cent Then. from the 30,000.0 900
bushelssof wheat there had been re-
moved T94,499 bushels Of screenings,
or nearly 23 $50 tons, fer which the
farmer received little or no pay. These
screenings sell at from 81 to $12 per
ton (18923."
Analysis of screenings and wheat:
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