338 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



my wild-oat wheat crop to the elevators at South 

 Qu'Appelle and I had been badly hit and very in- 

 dignant over the sales. That one should be docked 

 in weight for wild oats on a fair scale is perfectly 

 reasonable ; to be docked in the grade of your wheat 

 because another grain is mixed with it is grossly 

 unfair. The same wheat which was graded No. 2 

 Northern and docked unmercifully was graded 

 No. i Northern when I had cleaned it, and bought 

 without dockage also at South Qu'Appelle. The 

 moral seems why not clean all, and retain the tailings 

 for pig-feed ; but this would take up very much 

 valuable time, whereas the fanning mills at the 

 elevators are so speedy and so perfect that the wheat 

 is cleaned almost as easily as it is shifted from the 

 grain-wagon into the elevator-bin. I determined 

 never again to sell on the street in my wheat town ; 

 but I hadn't the slightest hesitation in lodging a 

 thousand bushels at the Municipal Elevator whilst 

 waiting for my car, because the man whom I had 

 first met as school-teacher of Springbrook was 

 managing that elevator in 1907, and I knew I should 

 get a fair and square deal. The depot-master takes 

 all applications for cars, and applicants are served 

 in rotation ; one farmer one car is supposed to be 

 the order of service. Only twenty-four hours 

 are allowed for loading, and therefore it is impossible 

 when hauling grain from a distance to get it all 

 in without lodging it at its starting-point. It was 

 satisfactory from all points of view that I had perfect 

 confidence in the holder of the scales of justice 

 that year, the difference in the value of frozen 

 and sound grain cannot be truly gauged until it 

 arrives in the scale and then it is startling. I 



