The actual work of grain inspection and grading, as now practiced, is much the same whether under state control or under the control of commercial organizations. There are two methods of doing this work : one is by what is known as track in spection and the other is office inspection, while sometimes a combination of the two is used.
Track inspection.—When the inspection is done on the track, a deputy inspector, with one or two assistants, goes into the railroad yards early in the morning every working day and opens such cars of grain as he finds there destined for his market, the names and numbers of these cars usually being furnished by the railroad companies. Each car is opened by one of the assistants and a sample of grain is taken from it with a special sampling tube and examined by the inspector, who determines the grade, tags the car with name and number of the grade, and closes it again, noting for his daily report the number of the car and the grade assigned. When the grain is destined for sale on the market, a sample is usually taken from the car and sent to the consignee for his information. In some markets practically every car is sampled and the sample sent directly to the trading floor, where it is shown for the information of buyers.
Office Inspection.—When office inspection is made, deputies are sent to the tracks in the early morning to secure samples from the cars destined to the market, and the samples are sent to the chief in spector's office and the grade determined on the basis of the sample. Some kinds of grain, notably flax, are almost always given office inspection, since it is difficult to determine the grade satisfactorily with the hasty inspection on the track.
Grading rules.—The rules for grades of grain are much the same in all American grain markets. There are slight variations from place to place, and some markets have more grades or different grades than others. The following samples of the grade rules for corn, now in use in one of the important markets, give a fair idea of the nature of such rules : No. 1 Yellow Corn.—Shall be yellow, sound, dry, plump and well cleaned.
No. 2 Yellow Corm—Shall be three-fourths yel low, dry, reasonably clean but not plump enough for No. 1.
A'o. 3 Yellow Corn.— Shall be three-fourths yel
low, reasonably dry and reasonably clean, but not sufficiently sound for No. 2.
No.1 White Corn.— Shall be sound, dry, plump and well cleaned.
No. 2 White Corm—Shall be seven-eighths white, dry, reasonably, clean, but not plump enough for No 1.
No. 3 White Corn.—Shall be seven-eighths white, reasonably dry and reasonably clean, but not suffi ciently sound for No. 2.
No. 1 Corn.— Shall be mixed corn, of choice quality, sound, dry and well cleaned.
No. 2 Corn.—Shall be mixed corn, dry and rea sonably clean, but not good enough for No. 1.
No. 3 Corm—Shall be mixed corn, reasonably dry and reasonably clean, but not sufficiently sound for No. 2.
No. 4 Corn.—Corn that is badly damaged, damp or very dirty, shall be graded no higher than No. 4.
It will be observed that these rules are very brief and rather indefinite and are thus capable of lib eral interpretation, and it niust rest with the chief inspector as to just what shall constitute the actual grade limits. The deputy inspectors are therefore guided in their judgment by the chief inspector, and he is usually guided by the commission or committee which has the matter in charge at each market. When either party to a transaction in which a grain grade is involved is dissatisfied with the decision rendered, it is usually possible to ap peal from the deputy inspector's decision and secure a ruling from the chief inspector or from a board of appeals. These appealed decisions constitute the unwritten law of the grain inspection department.
Importance of grading and inspecting.—The chief function of grain grades, and consequently of grain inspection, is to permit price quotations on grain and to permit trading for future delivery. Were grain grades not in use it would be difficult to quote prices that had any meaning, and also to make transactions for future delivery of grain, and consequently grain inspection and grading is a very important feature of the grain business, since both transactions are a very large part of it. It is customary to establish in each market a cer tain grade for each important cereal that is known as the "contract grade," and in all deals and price quotations this grade is the one used, unless other wise specified.