lo Sept., 1910.] Hajidling Grain in Bulk. 551 



and transfer elevators to 36, storing a total of 94.000,000 bushels. Canada, 

 by tliis method of handling grain, is fast becoming the great wheat pro- 

 ducer of the Western World, despite her rigorous climate. For the last 

 five years her wheat yield axeraged 124,000,000 bushels, and in 

 1909 it was 166.000.000 bushels — 58,000,000 bushels more than 

 in 1905. Of this loi.ooo.ooo were exported in bulk. Great 

 Britain taking 77.000,000. It must be remembered that Canada 

 makes good use of her lake system, for the lake boats come down through 

 the Welland Canal to Montreal, where transfer elevators put the grain 

 into the ocean-going steamers. The distance from Fort William or Port 

 Arthur, on the north-western end of Lake Superior, where the chief ter- 

 minal elevators are. to London, is 4,100 miles, and Canada lands her 

 wheat in England for 8| cents, or 4^d. per bushel, from out West. 



We have better natural facilities for handling grain in bulk on our 

 railways than our competitors and the first great advantage of this method 

 to our farmers would be the saving of the purchase of bags 

 to hold each year's produce. The loss on bags on this year's 

 yield of 28,800.000 bushels, at 4d. per bag, is ^155.000 for wheat bags 

 alone, and the loss on bags for oats and barley should be considered, as 

 all cereals would be handled by this system; that is averaging the bags 

 at 5s. 6d. per dozen to hold 186 lbs. of wheat, .selling it at 3s. 9d. per 

 bu.shel, and allowing 2 lbs. for each bag. This is a fair estimate, I think, 

 and it means a loss of ijd. per bu.shel, or ^17 per thousand bags, to the 

 farmer. This money would be much better spent in building a wheat and 

 vermin-proof storage barn on the farm than in the bag-maker's pocket ; 

 and while admitting that the present small bag has made handling easier, 

 it has really intensified the evil, as outside of wheat it is a useless bag 

 to the farmer for his other work. 



The second is the saving of human lab;jur in the field by doing 

 away with bag-.sewing and the work of carting the bags to the farm yard 

 and stacking them there for safety after or during harvest. This is over- 

 come by the team in the morning taking the box waggon to the field and 

 the driver emptying the bags from the harvester into the waggon. The 

 team pulls it to the barn at the dinner hour, and the wheat is shot in, 

 and so on every dav. This practice safeguards the grain of each day. 

 Again, in carting to the railwav station, the waggon is fibed from tbp 

 shoots or spouts in the barn, and at the station the wheat is either .shot 

 straight into the truck from an elcA'ated platform or into a ground-level 

 bin at the elevator, the loading and unloading of a waggon taking only 

 a few minutes, with no delay to other teams. 



A third saving is, or should be, a lower scale of freight and handling 

 charges, through quicker loading and unloading and despatch of trains, 

 with little chance of a grain block at country or terminal railway stations, 

 also in the loading and despatching of vessels. 



A fourth is a better price for wheat through its being a cleaner and a 

 uniform sample. Again, a buyer has a much better chance of judging 

 the wheat in bulk than in bags, and it dees away with the antiquated 

 f.a.q. standard. 



A fifth is a saving in the loss of grain by leakage from bags and from 

 stacks ; also freedom from damage by exposure to the weather. Bulk wheat 

 keeps better than bagged — the greater the bulk the less shrinkage in weight 

 and damage by insects or vermin. A sixth saving is the doing away with 



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