MARKET GRADES 171 



United States Department of Agriculture, regarding the amount 

 of oats shipped out of the county where grown. For the ten years, 

 1900-1909, this amounted to 28.7 per cent of the crop or an annual 

 movement of 246,000,000 bushels. The percentage varied from 19.5 

 per cent to 32.7 per cent. Most of this goes to other parts of the 

 country for stock feed ; the principal movement being from the six 

 states, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Indiana, 

 to the eastern and southern States. 



Preparing for Market. Farmers ordinarily market oats as 

 they come from the threshing machine, but in the large terminal 

 elevators, wherte they accumulate, a large percentage of the com- 

 mercial oats are given some treatment to prepare them for final ship- 

 ment. The legal weight of No. 1 oats is 32 pounds per bushel, but 

 the bulk of commercial oats will fall below this standard. In the 

 large elevators, they are often cleaned and scoured some, which will 

 raise the weight and improve the appearance. Very large quantities 

 are also bleached with sulfur fumes, to improve the color. Large 

 bleaching towers will handle several thousand bushels per day, at a 

 relatively small cost. 



A drying tower is also in connection with the large elevators, 

 where hot, dry air may be passed through the grain, reducing the 

 percentage of moisture to any desired degree. Oats sometimes 

 reach the market with eighteen or twenty per cent moisture, but if 

 they are to be stored or shipped, especially by water, the moisture 

 should be reduced to twelve or fourteen per cent. Otherwise there 

 is great danger of loss by heating and molding. 



Market Grades. For convenience in marketing, oats are graded 

 at the large terminal markets by official inspectors. The oats are 

 bought and sold very largely on these grades. The principal market 

 classes and grades are as follows : 



Color classification: 



White (including yellow), Grades Gray Oats, Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. 



1, 2, 3, and 4. Black Oats, Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. 



Red Oate, Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Mixed Oats, Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. 



Clipped Oats: 



Same classification and grades as above, but to be designated as "clipped." 

 Bleached Oats: 



Same classification and grades as above, but to be designated as"bleached." 



For more detailed description of grades, see Appendix, p. 498. 

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