10 BULLETIN 558, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



was equipped with driers, would have purchased the remainder at a 

 very small reduction from the price obtained for the entire lot. If 

 the dealer had kept the better corn separate he could have paid the 

 farmers who marketed good corn considerably more and would not 

 have been compelled to discount the poor corn very heavily. Other 

 dealers were taking yellow, red, white, and white-cap corn all at the 

 same price, although they were selling white and mixed corn at 3 

 cents under the price of yellow. 



PURCHASE BY GRADE SUBJECT TO DOCKAGE. 



By this method the quantity of foreign matter in a sample of the 

 grain is determined by the aid of screens. Settlement is then made 

 on the basis of the weight and grade of clean grain. The dockage 

 system of buying has this advantage over buying by grade without 

 the determination of dockage; a definite deduction is made to cover 

 the weight of the dirt and weed seed in the grain, rather than leaving 

 it to the guess of the buyer. As with the test weight, however, errors 

 are possible in ascertaining the dockage. The method possesses the 

 apparent disadvantage of not allowing the seller anything for screen- 

 ings, which, in some cases, could be used advantageously for feed- 

 ing on the farm. Usually, however, the value of the foreign material 

 is taken into consideration in arriving at the price paid for the grain. 

 Grades for wheat established by the department under the United 

 States grain standards Act are made on a dockage basis. 1 



PURCHASE BY GRADE AFTER CLEANING. 



In some sections elevators are equipped with machinery which 

 cleans the grain before it is weighed; the screenings are returned 

 to the farmer, and settlement is made for the weight and grade of 

 the cleaned grain. It is a rather surprising fact that this method is 

 not used more widely than it is at the present time, for while one of 

 the first machines for this purpose were first installed over 20 years 

 ago, the practice is still confined to a relatively small territory. On 

 the whole, it would seem better for farmers either to provide them- 

 selves with machinery for cleaning the grain properly on the farms 

 before it is marketed or for the country elevators to adopt more 

 generally the method of cleaning the grain and returning the screen- 

 ings to the farmers before weighing and grading. 



DIRECT SHIPMENT BY THE PRODUCER. 



If the farmer prefers to ship his grain rather than to dispose of it 

 at the local market, the conditions confronting him are similar to 

 those surrounding the country elevator, except that instead of hav- 

 ing fairly adequate machinery for loading the grain into cars he 

 usually must shovel it from the wagons into the cars or purchase a 

 portable elevator. The farmer should endeavor to ship at least a 



1 U. S. Department of Agricultrue. Office of Markets and Rural Organization. Service 

 an<J Regulatory Announcements No. 22, 1917i 



