100 



"I am aware that this cannot be accomplished in a 

 moment, but nothing is ever done without a beginning. " 

 "With the construction of large elevators in the 

 ports of Buenos Aires, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Rosario 

 and Santa Fe, which could be effected within a short 

 space of time, the bags could be emptied at the nearest 

 railway station, because grain in bulk can be loaded in 

 the ordinary closed wagon without difficulty, and re- 

 turned rapidly to the farmers, so that a large number 

 of agriculturalists could use them over and over again. 

 Afterwards, the district elevator would be brought in 

 use, in fact could be ready at the. same time as those of 

 the ports, so that with their assistance the number of 

 bags required would be almost insignificant.'' 



THE TRUE SOLUTION. 



In making the last statement the Minister is echo- 

 ing the universal opinion, that is, that the first step to- 

 wards solving our sack problem lies in the direction of 

 making the number used as low as possible ; in doing 

 without them where one is not forced to use them, ana 

 where one is compelled to their use to limit the number 

 used to a minimum. 



If the use of sacks for transporting grain brings 

 with it a loss to the grain producer from the first moment 

 when the farmer bags his grain until he sells it, so too, 

 does the "acopiador" lose, who it is true has to take 

 the loss into his calculations in the price he offers for 

 the grain to the farmer. The loss continues from country 

 to town, is held in mind by the grain merchant on the 

 grain market, is ever in the calculations of the exporter, 

 always with the tendency to reduce the value of the 

 grain, and enters too, equally in the reckonings of the 

 eventual purchaser, or consumers. Not only are there 

 the losses in money in the purchase of the sacks, there 

 are those of weight. Not a small part of the losses in 

 weight or ' ; merma ' ' are caused from the v bursting of 

 the sacks due principally to the many handlings which 

 transport in sacks involves, and those from the charges 

 for handling which are : the unloading at the station. 

 the piling there pending transference to the railway 

 wagon, the loading into the trucks, the unloading at the 

 destination, the piling at the ports, and the loading 

 aboard. Each handling, each one of these operations is 

 charged separately, generally the charge is 5 cents a 

 sack, so that if nothing but these six operations are ne- 

 cessary the charge is already approximately 30 cents for 

 each sack of 70 kilos. There is, however, the weighing 



