4 BULLETIX 558, L'. S. DEPAETMEXT OE AGEICTTLTURE, 



mar be required to accumulate a car-lot shipment. In such instances 

 it is necessary for the country elevator to provide facilities for sepa- 

 rate storage of this grain, which makes the cost of handling excessive. 

 Often the prospect of a more favorable future market apparently 

 warrants the storing of grain for a considerable period. Frequently 

 country elevators also store grain for farmers who desire to hold 

 their product for a more favorable market. 



CLEAXIXG AXD CONDITIONING GRAIN. 



Some country elevators are provided with equipment for cleaning 

 and conditioning grain. "While such equipment is expensive, its use 

 frequently improves the quality of the grain and increases its market 

 value. Sometimes grain comes to the elevator in poor condition, 

 often being dirty, dusty, or with high moisture content, and unless 

 the quality is improved by cleaning or drying, the grain can not be 

 disposed of advantageously. Moreover, grain containing impurities, 

 foreign matter, or a high moisture content is quite likely to become 

 hot in transit, which greatly reduces its value and frequently results 

 in serious financial less. If the elevator is not provided with suitable 

 equipment for this process such grain must be shipped in the con- 

 dition in which it is received. The farmer should not place all 

 responsibility for cleaning grain on the elevator. It should be 

 remembered that elevator managers do not pay grain prices for the 

 dirt and water found in a farmer's grain. Rather they establish the 

 price by taking into consideration the necessary expense of placing 

 the grain in marketable condition. The farmer who delivers clean, 

 dry. sound grain should receive a premium over the price paid to his 

 more careless competitor. Farmers who deliver grain of inferior 

 quality should be willing to submit t( a discount. 



The country elevator in some sections cleans the grain received 

 and returns the screenings to the producers. The screenings are 

 sometimes of considerable value for feeding purposes, selling for as 

 much as $10 to $25 per ton. In sections of the country where wild 

 oats are commonly found mixed with the small grains, from 2 to 40 

 per cent of the grain delivered at the elevator may consist of screen- 

 ings. At several stations in Xorth Dakota the " dockage " for the 

 1914 season crop of wheat averaged 6 pounds per bushel. In other 

 words, the equivalent of every tenth load of grain delivered at the 

 elevator was screenings, for which the farmer received no return 

 unless the elevator was provided with cleaning equipment. Some- 

 times a charge is made for cleaning, usually from 1 to 2 cents per 

 bushel, bulk weight. 



Cleaning equipment is much more important in some sections of 

 the country than in others. Houses provided with cleaning machin- 



