is indicated by the following data on car-lot movement reported by the railroad 

 carriers to the Montana Railroad Commission: 



CARS OF WHEAT MOVING EACH MONTH 



MONTH 1928 Crop 1927 Crop 1926 Crop 



(Cars)* (Cars)* (Cars)* 



July 930 1,028 1,022 



August 4,227 3,425 4,068 



September 12,967 12,147 4,085 



October 8.153 9,853 5,879 



November 5,974 4,630 • 2,635 



December 2,585 2,321 1,336 



July-Dec. Total 34,836 33,404 17,025 



Considering the fact that the 1928 crop was about 3 million bushels smaller 

 than the 1927 crop and less than double the 1926 crop, the market movement of 

 the 1928 crop to December 1 shows that it has been about 1,700,000 bushels larger 

 than that of 1927 and more than double that of 1926. 



Weather that permitted a more rapid movement from the farm, the increased 

 use of combine threshers and the apparent lack of confidence on part of growers 

 in the general market outlook all contributed to bring about the heavy 1928 move- 

 ment. 



1928 TEST WEIGHTS HIGH 



The average test weight per measured bushel of winter wheat in 1928 was 

 69.5 pounds compared with the same figure in 1927 and for the 10-year average 

 weight. In case of spring wheat the 1928 test weight was 59.7 pounds compared 

 with 59.4 pounds in 1927 and the 10-year average weight of 58.8 pounds per bushel. 



68 PER CENT OF SPRING WHEAT GRADED NO. 1 



In the proportion of spring wheat in the higher grades, judging from the 

 test weights of both crops, the 1928 crop should exceed that of 1927 when 68.0 per 

 cent of the crop graded Number 1 and 90 per cent of the crop graded above 

 Number 4. In this respect Montana usually leads all other states and is far above 

 the average for the United States which in 1927 gave 46.2 per cent in number 1 

 grade. In 1927 Montana produced 29.8 per cent of the nation's production of 

 number one grade spring wheat and in 1928 will have supplied an equally large if 

 not slightly larger proportion. 



THE PROTEIN SITUATION 



Montana's wheat, always relatively high in protein content of both spring 

 and winter wheats, has returned growers a premium over other wheat of the 

 same grade but lower protein. To what extent the old system of marketing wheat 

 on grade alone has reflected the protein value of the wheat back to the grower 

 is uncertain, but it has been felt by growers that this value was mostly lost under 

 the old system. 



The practice therefore of testing wheat for protein value and marketing the 

 wheat on a protein basis has developed markedly in Montana in recent years. In 

 1928 the demand on part of producers for new state laboratories to test protein 

 resulted in the installation of new plants at five points. 



As a result, to January 1 in 1929, these laboratories had tested over 38,000 

 samples of 1928 wheat against 13,891 samples tested at the Great Falls laboratory 

 alone for the entire 1927 marketing season. In addition to the 6 laboratories 

 operated by the State Department of Agriculture, the State Agricultural Col- 

 lege at Bozeman has a laboratory that has been in operation for several years. 



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