THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 223 



and is the cause of some confusion. Where there is no state 

 inspection, the trade organizations manage their own inspection 

 departments. 



The Need of Uniform Grades. Great as has been the value 

 of inspection and grading to the grain trade, the service is not 

 without its shortcomings. The greatest difficulty is lack of uni- 

 formity in grades. The different states and trade organizations 

 establish their grades quite independently of each other, and 

 this does not tend to give the uniform grades which the inter- 

 market, interstate and international grain trade demands. The 

 inspector begins with indefinite standards. He is buffeted about 

 by opposing interests which are vitally concerned in his de- 

 cisions. He must work rapidly. Sometimes the weather and 

 light place him at a great disadvantage. Frequently he lacks 

 apparatus for deciding doubtful cases. If reinspection is 

 called for, he rarely knows when a change of grade is made, and 

 why. In many cases, not only do the inspectors grade with 

 their unaided judgment, but they also have little opportunity 

 for correcting this judgment. The demands of the domestic 

 and foreign wheat trade for more uniform grades are imperative. 



Interest in the exact and uniform grading of wheat and other 

 grains has come mainly from two sources, the grain dealers and 

 the United States department of agriculture. The general con- 

 census of opinion has been that existing difficulties can best be 

 removed without governmental control, which, however, has 

 some advocates. The grain-inspection work of the department 

 of agriculture has had for its principal objects the study of 

 methods used in the determination of different varieties of 

 wheat, and the study of commercial grades of cereals. The 

 work of the grain dealers has found expression in the national 

 organization of the chief inspectors. This organization es- 

 tablished grades of wheat which it recommended to the grain 

 trade for uniform use. 



Commercial Classes and Grades of Wheat officially recognized 

 and adopted at Chicago and New York are given below. Wheaf 

 may be of such poor quality or condition as to be graded 

 " rejected, " or "no grade." Wheat that is wet, in a heating 

 condition, burned, or badly smutted generally falls into the 

 lowest grades. 



