222 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Formerly wheat was sold by sample, and grading was in effect 

 merely the determination of the value of the grain. In storage, 

 particular lots of grain, even if of the same grade, had to be 

 kept separate, and when called for, they had to be delivered to 

 the proper owner. The receipts or warrants issued for the 

 grain by the storehouse became the equivalent of the grain in 

 the market. In the early fifties, the movement of vast crops 

 from scattered sources became very unwieldy and difficult under 

 the old methods of selling by sample. It was necessary to store 

 in bulk enormous quantities of grain. The difficulties of deliver- 

 ing on demand particular lots of wheat to individual owners be- 

 came very great. As a result, the grain trade made the most 

 important advance of its history. Storage in bulk of all grain 

 of the same grade was made without preserving the identity of 

 particular lots, and general receipts were issued for the specified 

 amount of grain of a certain grade. These receipts could be de- 

 livered in fulfillment of contracts, and when grain was with- 

 drawn from storage, a specified amount instead of a specified 

 lot of a particular grade was delivered by the warehouseman. 

 Most of the wheat in Chicago was thus graded by 1860, but 

 general receipts were not adopted in New York until 1874. In 

 some markets, the inspection and grading of grain have reached 

 such a degree of honesty and efficiency that samples are dis- 

 pensed with entirely. 



Contract Grades. Trade organizations whose members deal 

 in grain exist in nearly all of the larger cities of the United 

 States. These organizations have an important function in the 

 grain trade, for they afford means for easy communication be- 

 tween producer and consumer, and they aid in avoiding acute 

 conditions of supply and demand. They have adopted rules of 

 trade which aim at a maximum of business with a minimum of 

 expense and friction. The established grades of grain form 

 a part of these regulations. The trade organization of each 

 market establishes a li contract grade" for its own market. The 

 contract grades are understood in all contracts not specifying 

 otherwise. There may be several contract grades on the same 

 market, and there may be a difference of several cents in the 

 actual milling value of a contract grade designated by the same 

 name in different markets. This variation arises from a differ- 

 ence in the rules which regulate the respective inspecting bureaus, 



