Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1917-09-21
FARM MARKETS
BULLETIN NO. IS
INFORMATION or UNUSUAL l9,
TEREsT TO IDAHO GROWERS
or WHEAT.
Department OF Agriculture lnvssslsas
Ina Alleged Practice OF Grain Deal
era In Assessing Farmers . Dis
count Against Wheat Purchased.

the main, been received from the ied-
eral department OF agriculture, rela.
tive to the assessment Of discounts
against wheat:
cit 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 a
discount against all wheat purchased.
contending that such assessment In
mandatory by reason of the official
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 Ii 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-
trary assessment In the interest of the
buyers. and IL 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.
0A NfAE Mb0&h &AAAhN&s
ards OF the United States was TO pro
vide q basis whereby parties to trans
actions Involving the purchase and
sale Of grain shipped or delivered for
shipment In interstate or foreign conn
merce might, through being able q
obtain correct application Of such
standards. arrive ut the actual value
and make settlement accordingly. The
standards for wheat do not provide fol
any arbitrary assessment for dock.
age. They do provide for the deterinI
nation Of the amount Of sand. dirt
weed seeds, weed stems and certain
other matter, called dockage, which nc
tnally may be present In a lot Oi
| wheat, the amount of which, III I'm OK
cess Of one-half of one per cent Il,
weight, Is to be stated Ia terms of th,
| actual percentage as part OF this
| grade designation Of the wheat. This
IL called the dOckage system Of grad
/ ing and has been In use for many
| years In the northwestern states priol
| to the adoption Of the official stand
ards"
The transactions lin question M
pear to be purely local. not involving
Interstate commerce, and are perhaps
| conducted IN n way not within tin
prohibitions OF the net. NeyertR piess
the Department OF Agriculture Is In
vestigating the matter and will b.
glad to have any facts which may b.
Of value. 1t will do everything Ia II
power to bring about the dise0ntinu
nnce of misrepresentation based 81
the act or the standards thereundel
1 EFtaA FnHAH4AY1nNH Ra8a FFtH Ef4.aal
given to wheat growers
aWheat Ii attracting, III he presen
time. greater attention than perhap
ever before, owing to Its eomparafiv
scarcity and high price and the neces
sity of sowing large acreage TIL
fall says the department statement
"As might be expected. therefore
various persons are Offering 10 th
public varieties that they describe O
far superior to the kinds now helm
grown. These yaritles nre usual
given SOME catchy name ind extrava
CAN'T claims are made for them.
IAN example Of this kind Is tn
Alaska, OF seHeH-headed wheat. tha
was exploited Il few years ago. Tn
hackers of this wheat did not get yer
far with II, however. AS the postofrlc
department issued q fraud order nm
their business came To stundstil
This type Of wheat having largl
branched head. has been offered 6
high prices TO the people of this com
try many times under one name or III
other. Records concerning tt go bae
more than a hundred years just no
another exploitation Ii threatening III
der the name Titanic This type
wheat with branehed heads should
left strictly alone by the farmers
Radical claims Of high yields NJ
made for some varieties of wheat.
is not uncommon in advertising n ne
variety for an INSCRIPTIONS or mi
formed promoter to claim yields foi
or Ave times that Of the average yle
Of the country. Claims rs high as
: or more times the average yield hal
been made In special cases. sus
! claims are absurd and no one need |
: mIsled BY them. A weIl-hred varie
In the section to which Ii In adApts
may yield few bushels more than II
. varieties being commonly grown. We
seldom. indeed, can q doubling Of Il
yield IL expected.
Buying seed grown nj a great d
lance from home Is another thing IN
: wheat growers should be- Oh the
guard against No wheat grown nj
bred for California conditions, for /
stance. no matter how good for Ga
) fornia, has been found adapted To d
country east Of the Rockies gaIigg
: nla adapted wheats do not sneceg
east OF that state. Neither would Il
wheats adapted to the Atlantic Goa
or the Mississippi valley succeed
: California. in short, homegrown -
9 should be used unless the state AZ
I cultural experiment station or &
) United States department q agriei
/ ture advises otherwise"
/ s@-~a~~s~-~~-ss-=@@=~@~s
y aaaa~ Az sfa.e,.s Ama~..Y