212 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Commercial grain charges on the Pacific coast have been an 

 argument in favor of elevator methods, especially when they 

 were compared with the charges at terminal points in the 

 Mississippi valley, or with those in New York city. At the 

 very outset, the sacks add a cost of 4 cents per bushel of wheat, 

 an expense which, according to the above statistics of charges, 

 is probably equal on an average to the entire commercial charge 

 involved in getting a bushel of wheat from the Red river valley 

 through country, terminal and Atlantic seaboard elevators and 

 transferring it on board ship at the Atlantic port. While 

 there was no storage charged at the local warehouse on the 

 Pacific coast for the first 6 months, the handling charge paid 

 the local warehouseman during this time was 1.5 cents per 

 bushel. Each month after this time involved a charge of 0.3 

 cent per bushel. Since there was little capital invested in local 

 warehouses, the charge for handling the wheat must have been 

 about 1.5 cents per bushel, even if it was sold immediately. At 

 Portland, 60 days' storage, including the discharging of cars and 

 truckage across the dock to ship, involved a charge of 1.2 cents 

 per bushel. This charge became 1.8 cents when grain was also 

 loaded on the vessel, which made the charge for merely trans- 

 ferring to vessel 0.6 cent. After 60 days, storage charges were 

 one-eighth cent per bushel for 10 days. Storage charges at 

 San Francisco were 1.5 cents a bushel per year. The charge 

 for loading wheat on vessels was 0.75 cent per bushel, and that 

 for weighing was nearly 0.25 cent per bushel. 



The greatest portion of the expense on the Pacific coast 

 would seem to be for handling the wheat, while on the At- 

 lantic coast it is for storage. Receiving grain, storing it 60 

 days, and discharging it involves a cost of 1.8 cents per bushel 

 on the Pacific coast and 1.875 cents on the Atlantic coast. 

 When delivered to vessels, there is an additional storage charge 

 of 0.5 cent per bushel, making 2.375 cents on the Atlantic coast. 

 Storage for 60 days costs two-thirds cent on the Pacific coast, 

 and handling the grain costs 1.13 cents. Storage for 60 days 

 at New York costs 1.25 cents, or, if it is to be loaded on vessels, 

 1.75 cents, which leaves a cost of 0.125 cent for handling. It 

 costs, therefore, about 1 cent a bushel more at the seaboard 

 port to handle wheat in sacks than to handle it by elevator 

 methods. At the country elevator, however, there is a gain 



