204 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



day are received by a single elevator. These elevators are 

 generally constructed of wood, and have a capacity varying 

 from 10,000 to 40,000 bushels. 



From the point of view of ownership and management, there 

 are three types of elevators found at the local markets: (1) 

 Those provided and owned by the farmers themselves; (2) those 

 owned by the local grain dealers; and (3) those controlled by 

 the grain buyers located at the primary markets. Hundreds of 

 elevators situated along the railroads which extend into the 

 grain territory are controlled from the primary markets by 

 what are called line elevator companies. The Northern Pacific 

 Railway with its elevators may be taken as a typical case. On 

 this road during 1901, there were 430 line elevators, 286 local 

 dealers' elevators, and 22 farmers' elevators. In the same 

 year in Brown county, South Dakota, a county which is 36 

 miles wide by 48 miles long, and which is considered as typical 

 of the Dakotas and Minnesota, there were 45 elevators with a 

 capacity of from 12,000 to 15,000 bushels each. There were 

 also 12 flat houses with a capacity of from 3,000 to 5,000 

 bushels each, and 3 large elevators belonging to flouring mills. 

 Twelve line companies were operating in the county, and they 

 owned 30 of the warehouses. 20 of them were owned and 

 operated by independent parties. 1 When local market conditions 

 are unsatisfactory, the farmers establish more elevators. Dur- 

 ing 1904-5, the farmers' elevators in Minnesota increased ap- 

 proximately 90 per cent in 18 months. 2 For the year ending 

 September 1, 1901, 1,549 licenses were issued for country ele- 

 vators and warehouses in the state of Minnesota. 







The successful working of elevators as now constructed and 

 all the principles of their machinery are entirely dependent on 

 the flowing quality of wheat. Since the advantages of this 

 quality for labor-saving machinery had been completely es- 

 tablished prior to the extensive development of the wheat in- 

 dustry on the Pacific coast, it is a peculiar and noteworthy fact 

 that in the subsequent development of the wheat industry, the 

 Pacific coast differed from other parts of the country in this, 

 as in nearly all other things, by not taking advantage of the 

 flowing quality of wheat. The grain is handled in sacks, and 



1 Industrial Commission, 10:cccxviii. 



2 Kept. R. R. and Warehouse Commission of Minn., 1905, p. 6a 



