GRAIN: Shipping, Grading and Storing. Figs. 511-514.
Before the middle of the last century, much the larger part of the grain produced in the United States was hauled to the mill by the farmer, and was either sold to the miller or ground for a toll charge and the product disposed of by the owner afterward. The high specialization of milling pro cesses, involving more expensive milling plants, the rapid extension of grain-producing areas, and the development of railroads that offered a ready means of transporting grain long distances from the farm to the mill, have all taken place since 1550. The geographical separation of the grain field and the mill has necessitated the development of a commercial system of moving grain from the farm to the mill, of storing it en route or at desti nation, and of classifying or grading it so that similar kinds may be kept together in transit and in storage.
In order to meet the needs that have arisen with the rapid development of grain production and milling in this country, American methods of hand ling, grading and storing grain have become more complicated and extensive than those of any other country.
Shipping and handling grain.
Instead of hauling his grain to the mill, the farmer now hauls it to the nearest railway station where there is an elevator or storage house, at which it is weighed and graded ; and the farmer either takes his pay for it on the basis of the day's quoted price, or accepts a storage receipt which states the quantity and grade of the grain deliv ered. This storage receipt may be converted into cash at any time on the basis of the ruling market price, subject, of course, to discounts for storage and insurance charges.
From the country elevator, the grain is shipped in carload lots to central milling or distributing points, where it is usually unloaded for storage in large elevators, and from which it may be with drawn as needed, for either shipment or manufac ture. The machinery for moving grain in bulk has been developed to such a degree of efficiency that grain can be unloaded from a car or vessel and placed in storage in an elevator for a quarter of a cent a bushel. Machinery for cleaning and other
wise improving grain in large quantities has also been brought into nse, so that the farmer no longer finds it profitable to attempt to clean his grain before marketing it.
Nearly all the grain marketed in the United States, east of the Rocky mountains, is handled in loose bulk after leaving the farmers' hands. It is stored in large bins in elevators and hauled from place to place in tight box-cars. This feature is unique to the American grain business. In all other parts of the world grain is handled almost exclusively in sacks. Owing to the fact that it is impossible to keep small lots of grain separate when handled in bulk, it has been necessary to use a system of classification or grading by which like kinds and qualities can be kept together and recog nized as having a certain market value.
Grading and inspecting grain.
Like the custom of handling grain in quantity without sacking, the system of classifying and grading grain for commercial purposes is unique to the American grain trade. This practice was probably initiated by boatmen along the Chicago river in carrying grain from Illinois farms to Chicago. With the development of railroad traffic in the upper Mississippi valley, the movement of grain to Chicago and similar manufacturing and distributing points caused this custom of classifi cation to spread rapidly. It soon came to be recog nized as a part of the business of the trade and was very quickly put on a semi-official basis. Rules, or descriptions of grades, were made out and men were employed to do the inspecting and grading professionally.
Complaints of irregularities and injustices from various sources resulted in the transfer of the con trol of inspection and grading from the commer cial organizations to official state organizations in some of the western states. Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas have long had state laws and state commissions to conduct the work of inspect ing and grading, as well as weighing, while Wash ington and Wisconsin have laws and commissions for the control of certain features of this work.