The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-09-21
FARM MARKETS
BULLETIN No. IS
INFORMATION OF UNUSUAL IN.
TEREST TO IDAHO GROWERS
OF WHEAT.
Department of Agriculture lnvestigat
ing Alleged Practice of Grain Deal
ers in Assessing Farmers a Dis
count Against Wheat Purchased.

The following information has, in
the main, been received from the fed
eral department of agriculture, rela-
tive to the assessment of discounts
against wheat:
1T 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 is
now being moved, the country grain |
dealers are assessing the farmers !
discount against all wheat purchased, |
contending that such assessment is /
| mandatory by reason of the official |
grain standards of fine 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 it appears, however, |
| that the discount is actually an arbi- |
| 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.
1.-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 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 seeds, 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 TIE official stand
ards"
The transactions in question APP
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
vestigating the matter and will b.
glad TO have any facts which may b.
Y of value. 1t will do everything in it
power to bring about the discontinu
5 ance of misrepresentation based OF
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.
AN example of this kind is the
Alaska, or seven-headed wheat, that
was exploited few years ago. The
hackers of this wheat did not get very
far with ii, however as the postoffice
. department issued a fraud order and
their business came to Il Standstill
This type of wheat having il large
branched head, has been offered at
high prices to the people of this coun-
try many times under one name or ;ln-
other. Records concerning 1t go back
more than hundred years. Just now
another exploitation is threatening ur-
der the name Titanic This type of
wheat with branched heads should he
left strictly alone by the farmers.
Radical claims of high yields are
made for some varieties of wheat. II
is not uncommon in advertising new
variety for an INSCRIPTIONS or unin-
formed promoter to claim yields four
or five times that of the average yield
: of the country Claims as high as Is
or more times the average yield have
been made in special cases. Such
claims are absurd and no one need be
misled by them. A well-bred variety
in the section to which it is adapted
may yield few bushels more than the
: varieties being commonly grown. Very
seldom, indeed, can a doubling of the
yield is expected.
Buying seed grown at great dis
lance from home is another thing that
wheat growers should be on their
guard against No wheat grown and
bred for California conditions, for in
stance no matter how good for Cali
fornia, has been found adapted to the
country east of the Rockies. CalifOr-
mia adapted wheats do not succeed
east of that state. Neither would the
Z wheats adapted to the Atlantic coast
2 or the Mississippi valley succeed In
: California. In short, homegrown seed
? should be used unless the state agri.
I cultural experiment station or the
. United States department Of agricul
, | ture advises otherwise"