256 CORN 



Line Elevator Systems. A line elevator system consists of coun- 

 try elevators at various stations frequently along one railroad line. 

 The number of elevators owned by a single company has been known 

 to be as great as six hundred. 



Almost every town along the lines of railroad in the western part 

 of the corn belt has a line elevator. For example: Nye, Schneider, 

 Fowler Company have built along the Elkhorn division of the Chicago 

 & Northwestern Railway in Nebraska, while Van Dusen holds the 

 branch lines of the same road in South Dakota. The Updyke Grain 

 Company owns a line of elevators parallel with the Union Pacific. On 

 the B. & M. Ferguson buys in the principal districts. 



These companies usually build quite large elevators to facilitate ex- 

 tensive storing. Cribs for ear corn are often erected near the eleva- 

 tor. During the husking season, farmers within a radius of several 

 miles haul direct from the field to these cribs. In the early winter, 

 shelled corn taken from open cribs and piles on the ground begins to 

 come into the elevator. Corn from good cribs appears a little later, 

 depending upon the prices and the financial condition of the grower. 

 This corn, if it be dry and of good quality, is held in storage. Then 

 the representative of the company, knowing how much corn they have 

 on hand throughout the state or states, and knowing, too, how much 

 the corn has cost, goes to the Chicago Board of Trade. Here he 

 deals in futures, making a practice of selling on a high market and 

 buying at a price below the original cost of the corn on hand. 



Independent Elevators. Independent elevators are individuals, 

 partnerships or corporations owning one or at most only a few ele- 

 vators. The growth of the independent or private elevator company 

 has been marked within recent years, especially in the western corn- 

 growing states. Men of means in the different localities have entered 

 into this field. Being acquainted with the growers in a given com- 

 munity, lumber merchants and coal dealers have erected elevators 

 and begun buying grain. Competitive bidding with the older elevator 

 companies places these companies in a favorable light with the 

 farmers. 



*Farmers' Co-operative Elevators. A farmers' co-operative ele- 

 vator means a corporation made up of stockholders who are chiefly 

 farmers. Each society is incorporated under the laws of the state and 

 is governed by a constitution and by-laws, enforced by the officers of 

 the organization. 



*Account taken from American Co-operative Journal, on History of the Farmers' Elevator. 



