552 ANNUAL, REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



on March 19, 1920, and a dcle^i^ation from the Southwest, opposing 

 the chanfTos, was heard in tlie same city on March 31. On April 2 

 an open hoarini; was held at Chicago at which all interests engaged 

 in the handling of wheat were urged to present their views. For 

 the reasons set forth hy the Secretary of Agriculture in Service and 

 Kegulatory Announcements No. 62," no changes were made. It is 

 believed that the restoration of normal competitive marketing condi- 

 tions will ])ractically, if not entirely, eliminate the objections to the 

 wheat grades. The grades for shelled corn and oats have been satis- 

 factory to practically all persons using them, and it is confidently 

 believed that the same would have been true of the wheat grades had 

 they been applied under normal conditions. 



Hearings on the tentative standards for milled rice were held in 

 March, 1920, Avith a view to promulgating these standards under the 

 act, but when the curtailment of funds for the fiscal year 1921 be- 

 came certain, it was decided not to establish these standards oflicially 

 and they are consequently used on a permissive basis only. 



The district offices at Detroit, Cleveland, and Salt Lake City were 

 discontinued during the year on account of the shortage of "^funds, 

 and the territory formerly covered from these offices was placed 

 under the jurisdiction of the Chicago, Toledo, and Portland offices. 

 It was necessary to establish new offices at St. Joseph, Mo., and 

 Sioux City, Iowa. The supervision districts have been revised so as 

 to follow county and State lines strictly. This materially simplifies 

 the handling of the work from the standpoint of the licensed inspec- 

 tors and the grain trade. 



Outstanding improvements in service have been effected during 

 the year by strengthening the supervision organization at the larger 

 grain markets. Uniformity of inspection has been materially in- 

 creased, largely through cooperation between the Federal forces and 

 the forces of the various inspection departments. 



More than 120 alleged violations of the act were investigated. 

 Several are now in the hands of the Department of Justice, and 

 findings of the Secretary have been published in other cases or are 

 in course of preparation. Charges were preferred against two in- 

 spectors during the year for misgrading grain, and in each case after 

 appropriate hearings the charges were sustained and the licenses of 

 the inspectors were suspended. 



At the beginning of the year a total of 405 licenses were in effect 

 and on June 30, 1920, 436 were outstanding, 35 licenses being held 

 in suspension on that date. In a number of cases the new licenses 

 issued were to cover inspection work at new points. 



Nine hundred and ninety-six thousand four hundred and forty- 

 cwo cars of corn, wheat, and oats were inspected by licensed inspec- 

 tors upon arrival at terminal markets where such inspectors ,werc 

 located, and 496,848 inspections were made on " out " shipments 

 from markets where licensed inspectors were located. In supervis- 

 ing the work of the licensed inspectors, 99,723 samples were han- 

 •lled by district offices located at the principal grain terminals of the 

 country. 



Since the food control and wheat price guaranty Acts were in 

 effect during the fiscal year covered by this report, appeals enter- 

 tained embraced both intrastate and interstate shipments. Ten 

 thousand nine hundred and sixty appeals were filed during the year, 

 of which 1,545 involved intrastate appeals on wheat. Twenty dis- 



