Homesteading 



common, although a man I knew of, having 

 been so treated and being therefore unable to 

 reach home the same evening, made complaint 

 to the headquarters of the elevator company, 

 but without getting practical redress. 



As there was nothing to do but grin and bear 

 it, I kicked my heels and chatted with one or 

 two men around the hotel stove for a time, and 

 then went across to the local store and ordered 

 the few groceries we needed. 



At length, one o'clock having arrived, the grain 

 autocrat condescended to open his office, and 

 having examined my sample, remarked that it 

 was little better than pig-feed, and he could not 

 give me more than forty-five cents a bushel ; on 

 my remarking that the man at the other elevator 

 had said he would give fifty and that it would 

 grade No. 4, he turned away, saying, " That's 

 all I can do." 



I do not imply that all elevator companies 

 are like this, but it will be seen that I was prac- 

 tically in his hands, unless I was prepared to 

 throw my grain by the roadside or to haul it home ; 

 and this sort of thing will serve to show one of 

 the difficulties that face the small grower, espe- 

 cially in a season like the one I am describing. 

 It is, however, fair to say, and I may refer to the 

 matter at greater length later, that the legislatures 



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