Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-09-21

The following information has, u
the main, been received from the leu
eral department Of agriculture reia
five TO the assessment of discount
against wheat:
at has been brought to the atten
ton Of the United States department
of agriculture from several sources
that, in certain parts Of the country
where this years crop Of wheat ]!
now being moved, the country gran
dealers are assessing the farmers !
discount against all wheat purchased
contending that such assessment Is
mandatory by reason of the oillcla
grain standards of the United States
for wheat under the United States
grain standards act. Apparently the
contention on the part of the country
grain dealers is based upon the item
"dockage" contained in the official
standards. From information received
| by the department 1t appears, however,
! that the discount Is actually an afbi-
trary 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-
| lations Hereunder.
THE primary purpose In the estab'
| lishment of the official grain stand
ards of the United States was to pro
vide basis whereby parties to trans
actions involving the purchase and
sale of grain shipped or delivered for
shipment In interstate or foreign COM
merce might, through being able to
obtain n correct application of such
standards, arrive at the actual value
and make settlement accordingly. The
standards for wheat do not provide for
any arbitrary assessment for dock
age. They do provide for the determi-
nation of the amount of sand, dirt,
weed see is, weed stems and certain
other matter, called dockage, which ac-
tually may be present in a lot of
wheat, the amount of which, if in eX-
cess of one-half of one per cent by
weight, is to be stated in terms of the
actual percentage as a 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
TO the adoption of the official stand
ards"
The transactions in question ap-
pear to be purely local, not involving
interstate commerce, and are perhaps
conducted in way not within the
prohibitions of the act Nevertheless,
the Department of Agriculture is in
vestlgating the matter and will be
glad to have any facts which may be
of value. 1t will do everything in its
power to bring about the discontinue
ance of misrepresentation based on
the act or the standards Hereunder.
The following warning has been
given to wheat growers:
Wheat Is attracting, at the present |
time, greater attention than perhaps |
ever before, owing to its comparative |
scarcity and high price and the neces-
sity of sowing a large acreage this
fall" says the department statement.
AS might be expected, therefore
various persons are offering to the
public varieties that they describe as
far superior to the kinds now being
grown. These varities are usually
given some catchy name and extrava-
CANT claims are made for them.
IAN example of this kind is the
Alaska, or seven-headed wheat, that
vas exploited a few years ago. The
packers of this wheat did not get very
ar with ii, however, as the postoffice
department issued fraud order and
heir business came to standstill.
This type of wheat having large.
head, has been offered at
high prices to the people of this cOun-
ny many times under one name or an
'ther. Records concerning it go back
more than a hundred years. Just now
mother exploitation is threatening I'M
Ter the name 'Titanic' This type of
Wheat with branched heads should be
eft strictly alone by the farmers.
Radical claims of high yields are
lade for some varieties of wheat. II
: not uncommon In advertising a new
ariety for an Inscriptions or unin-
ormed promoter to claim Yields four
r five times that of the average WELD
I the country. Claims as high MS Is
r more times the average yield have
cen made In special cases. Such
laims are absurd and no one need be
iisled by them. a well-bred variety
the section to which it is adapted
lay yield n few bushels more than the
arleties being commonly grown. Very
eldom, indeed, can doubling of the
ield is expected
Buying seed grown at q great dis
lnce from home is another thing that
heat growers should be on their
nard against. No wheat grown and
red for California conditions. for I'm.
ance, no matter how good for Cali
'rnia, has been found adapted 10 the
Mntry east Of the Rockies. Califor-
a adapted wheats do not sue~~ed
'st of that state. Neither would the
seats adapted to the Atlantic coast
: the Mississippi valley succeed In
alifornia. IN short, home grown seed
lould be used unless the state aeri