Milford chronicle., 1923-09-07
N0xI0US WEED SEEDS
IN THRASHED WHEAT
0ne Bushel Of Dockage to Every
22 Bushels Of Grain.
Foreign Material Commonly Found Il
Government investigations Con-
sisted Of Wild oats, Buck
wheat Mustard, Etc.

of Agricultura)
Thrashed spring wheat usually con
tains much foreign material, consist
ing almost entirely Of noxious weed
seeds. Investigations conducted BY r
H. Block and c. R. Haller Of the bu-
reau Of agricultural economics, United
States Department Of Agriculture.
show that In the 1020-2l crUp there
was approximately one bushel Of for
eign material. or "dockage." In every
u bushels Of spring wheat thrashed.
This represents over 9.5OQ,0 600 bushels
Of dockage for the spring wheat crop.
More than 200 kinds Of weed seeds
are found In spring wheat, but less
than 20 Of these appear commonly.
The foreign seeds most commonly
found In the departments investlga-
tions, named in the order Of their fire.
quency. were wild oats, Wild buck
wheat, cultivated oats, mustard
lamb's-Quarter. barley, green foxtail,
hare's-ear mustard. max, rye, COW
cookie. pigweed, yellow foxtail. sun
flower. corn cookie, Wild rose. king
head, and wild pea (vetch). Wild
cats appeared In over 800 per cent Of
the lots ,of, wheat examined. Grain
inspection statistics show that the per
centage Of dockage found in spring
wheat Is gradually Increasing.
Several factors tend to increase the
foreign material in spring wheat. the
moro important Of which are the cow
ing Of wheat on land that Is already
foul with weed seeds, and the use Of
seed wheat contaminated with weed |
seeds. Both Of these practices are |
common In the main spring wheat
lrea.
Foreign material In wheat u obtee.
because it Il an economic
waste, says the department. The
Of weed seeds with the wheat
reduces the yield Of wheat and In
creases the cost Of harvesting and
Foreign material occupies
space In wagons and freight I
:ars in country and terminal elevators
md mills. and it often has = bad effect
N the milling and baking qualities Of
he wheat. That clean seed combined |
nth good cultural methods will pro-
luce clean wheat II being demonstrat-
d constantly on many farms. and that
he marketing Of only clean wheat IL
there can be no doubt. The
arm ID the LOGICAL place to clean
7heat. preferably. a. part Of the
operation. When the clean
lg is done on the farm, the cleaned
heat viii bring = better price on the
larket, the freight on the dockage
ill be saved. and the screenings win
Q available for feed, and when finally
round can be substituted for the high
: priced feeds, such as oats. corn, and
mill feeds. =
Two methods Of cleaning wheat are
,mmon. One method uses sleeves and
II blasts for separating the foreign
aterial from the wheat, and the 9th
; method separates the grain accord I
& to the size and shape Of the iker-I.
is. The former method u used In
e general-purpose cleaning machines
lch n tanning mills and receiving
parators, and the latter method II 1
'ed In machines designed to make t
ecial separations. such - cookie cyl !
ders, ring gradera and disk u.a- !
ines.
Farmers Bulletin, 1881, Foreign Ma b
rial in Spring Wheat, Just publishsd
the United States Departneat a. .
,ricuiture. describes methods q ~ Z
wing foreign material in prins Z
leat O the farm and ct the eountzy
.vator. COPIES may b o6tainod fFua =
, department 1t Washlngtsa. D. c. Z
fro0 any once ef federal grain "a n
rviNsnn IN the fleld. :