WHEAT IN WESTERN CANADA 



75 



by the Standards Board. It includes any grain wliieh is 

 not good enough to be put into No. 6 Wheat. Grain 

 known as Feed, as the name suggests, is used for feeding 

 animals. 



XVII. The Grading of Grain 



An essential element in the grain business of western 

 Canada is the classifying or grading of grain by govern- 

 ment inspectors. The wheat is bought, sold, transported, 

 and stored in bulk according to grade. If wheat which 

 comes into the market is graded too low, the farmer suffers 

 an undeserved loss and the miller or grain buyer reaps an 

 undeserved gain. If, on the other hand, the wheat is 

 graded too high, the positions of the farmer and miller 

 are reversed : the farmer gains and the miller loses. The 

 exact price of all grain sold in the Winnipeg Grain Ex- 

 change depends on the grade, there being a spread of sev- 

 eral cents a bushel between any lower grade and the next 

 higher one. Since the question of grade enters into prac- 

 tically every grain transaction in western Canada, the 

 importance of the accurate determination of grade and 

 the great responsibility resting upon the shoulders of the 

 government inspectors at once become obvious. 



The government inspector is in a very delicate position. 

 On the one hand he is liable to receive complaints from 

 farmers for grading wheat too low and in thus being too 

 severe in his judgments, while, on the other hand, he is 

 equally liable to receive complaints from millers for grad- 

 ing wheat too high and in thus being too lenient in his 

 judgments. In addition to this, he may be criticized by 

 the grain merchants either as too severe or as too lenient 

 according as they themselves are sellers or buyers. Thus 

 the inspector is in the position of an arbitrator who daily 



