10 



HANDLING WHEAT FROM FIELD TO MILL. 



Table II. — Results of baking tests of flours made from shoek-thrashed ivheat 

 compared loith the results of tests of flours from stack-thrashed tchcat, 

 1909.'^ 



" The amount of flour used for each baking is based on 340 grams containing 12 per 

 cent of moisture, or 299.2 grams of dry matter. 



EFFECT OF SWEATING IN THE STACK ON MARKET GRADE. 



At the time the stack-thrashed lot (Xo. 460) was received at the 

 mill, the shock-thrashed lot (No. 398) had improved considerabl}^ in 

 condition, the moisture content having decreased from 14.8 per cent 

 to 13.9 per cent. At this time 2-quart samples of each lot were sent 

 to the Minnesota State Grain Inspection Department to be graded. 

 Sample No. 398 from the shock-thrashed wheat was graded No. 2 

 northern spring wheat, while sample No. 460 from the stack-thrashed 

 lot graded No. 1 northern spring wheat. This circumstance tends to 

 prove that when the wheat goes through the sweat properly in the 

 stack, the color and test weight per bushel ma}^ be improved enough 

 to raise it one grade. 



COMPARATIVE COST OF THE TWO METHODS. 



The facts mentioned bring up the question of the comparative cost 

 of handling wheat by the two methods. It is very difficult to obtain 

 any definite information as to what the added cost resulting from 

 stacking the grain is, and many wheat growers even deny that it 

 necessarily costs more to stack grain and then thrash from the stack 

 than it does to thrash direct from the shock. Some data regarding 

 this phase of the problem have been compiled from statistics collected 

 in Minnesota. 



It is found in Bulletin 73 of the Bureau of Statistics, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, page 50, that the cost of stacking, stack 

 thrashing (labor), and thrashing (cash cost) for a comparatively 

 large acreage in Norman County, Minn., amounted to $1,223 per acre, 

 Avhile the cost of thrashing from the shock on a large farm in north- 

 western Minnesota amounted to $0,991, a diiference of $0,232 per 

 acre in favor of the shock-thrashing method. However, on com- 

 paring the other items of expense on the large farm with those on 

 the tract in Norman County it is found that all the other farm 

 operations were carried on much more cheaply on the large farm, and 



[Cir. 08] 



