360 THE GRAIN TRADE 



paying a dividend of one hundred per cent or more, year after 

 year. The non-member who sells to the house, of course, does 

 not participate in the dividend, although he helps create it. 



Dockage Question. The present problem of dockage is a 

 pressing one. The farmers' elevator now usually follows one of 

 four practices: (1) Runs the grain through a cleaner, and ships 

 the clean grain to market. The " screenings" (dockage) accumu- 

 late until a carload is on hand, which is then shipped to the ter- 

 minal and sold to the mills making stock feeds. In this way the 

 farmer receives full market price for his screenings. (2) the grain 

 is shipped, dirt and all, to the terminal, and is sold there on its 

 merits, a certain per cent being deducted (or " docked") on account 

 of the foreign matter contained. The freight has been paid on 

 this matter, and yet nothing is received for it, in this case. (3) 

 The grain may be sent to a terminal elevator, ordered cleaned, the 

 screenings sold on the market, and the clean grain sold on the 

 market. (4) The farmer may have a cleaning mill on his farm, 

 clean his own grain, and keep the screenings at home for poultry 

 and stock feed. If he has a feed mill for grinding the screenings, 

 he will not thus scatter foul seeds about his farm. 



It is only within very recent years of high prices that screenings 

 have taken on value and importance in grain marketing. A fifth 

 suggestion may well be added concerning the heavy dockage in 

 all spring wheat regions, namely, that if the farmers had a crop 

 rotation and raised a few cultivated crops, they would thus 

 eliminate the weeds, and then there would be no dockage prob- 

 lem. For after all, dockage is a weed problem, and the fundamental 

 solution is to quit raising weeds. 



QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 



1. Show that the grain trade of the United States is an "international 



matter." Cite Argentina's experience. 



2. Name chief exporting countries (wheat), average amount exported; chief 



importing countries, and average amount imported. 



3. Rank in order of money value the leading crops of the United States. 



4. Show relative importance on the markets of wheat and corn. 



5. Show the competitive nature of the grain trade. What markets, for 



instance, bid for Iowa corn? 



6. Locate the more important grain exchanges of the United States. 



7. Discuss present organization of the grain trade under the following topics : 



country elevator (three kinds); grading and dockage; selling the local 

 grain; financing the local elevator; mixing; storage and hedging prob- 

 lem of country elevator; hedging in North and South compared; public 

 and private terminal elevators; hospital elevators; grain exchange 

 (organization, membership, market news service). 



8. Show relation of farmer to the terminal market and how he may improve 



this relationship. 



