THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 209 



1,380,000 bushels of grain could be delivered. The largest ele- 

 vator at present has a capacity of 10,000 bushels per hour. 



Baltimore has 6 grain elevators. The total storage capacity 

 is 5,350,000 bushels. One of the elevators can store 1,800,000 

 bushels, and it has a daily delivering capacity of 1,000,000 

 bushels. The four elevators at tidewater in Boston can store 

 3,000,000 bushels, and they can handle, in and out, approximate- 

 ly 100,000 bushels per hour. Galveston, Texas, has 4 elevators, 

 with a combined storage capacity of 4,000,000 bushels. 



There are no grain elevators on the Pacific coast. Large 

 grain warehouses supplied with cleaning and grading plants are 

 found at the ports, however. The sacks of wheat are often simply 

 piled on the banks of the river. When the deck of the vessel 

 to be loaded is at a lower elevation than the grain, the sacked 

 wheat is placed on an inclined chute over which it descends by 

 gravity into the hold of the vessel. When the deck is at a 

 higher elevation than the grain, the sacks are first elevated by 

 a conveyor, consisting of a chute and an endless belt, and then 

 descend. It requires 3 or 4 days by these methods to load a 

 ship carrying from 3,000 to 3,500 tons of wheat. At Portland, 

 Oregon, there are 14 wheat docks (meaning warehouses), and 

 350 cars of wheat can easily be put in storage in one day. One 

 is inclined to question the economy of the whole system of 

 handling wheat in sacks. 



Legislation Pertaining to Public Elevators and warehouses 

 was passed first in Illinois (1870). The usual subjects of legis- 

 lative enactment affecting the storage of wheat are : The classi- 

 fication and definition of public and private warehouses; the 

 licensing of public warehouses ; the requiring of bonds with ap- 

 proved security from warehousemen; discriminations; ware- 

 house receipts; grain inspection; prompt delivery; statements of 

 grain in store ; accidental losses of grain in storage ; the mixing 

 and selecting of grain by the warehousemen; combinations of 

 warehousemen ; and the negotiability of warehouse receipts. 



Storage Charges. Concentration of the wheat trade and 

 through shipments have eliminated many of the charges incident 

 to the storage and handling of wheat. In Minnesota and the 

 Dakotas in 1900, storage was usually free for the first 15 days, 

 and after that the rate was 2 cents a bushel for the first 30 

 days, and half a cent a bushel for each additional 30 days. 



