78 



ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



appointment have political considerations any place, and 

 this applies throughout the service." *" 



If the Government were to attempt to grade wheat at 

 the country railway stations from which the wheat is 

 shipped in the first place, an army of samplers and skilled 

 graders would be required instead of a few, the cost of 

 grading would be greatly increased, and it would be diffi- 

 cult to give the work of grain inspection the necessary 

 uniformity. It so happens that most of the grain for ex- 

 port passes on its way to the head of the lakes through 

 Winnipeg; and it has therefore been found convenient 

 to concentrate the work of grading in this city. Other 

 inspections, however, are made at Calgary, Moosejaw, and 

 Saskatoon, at Port William, Port Arthur, and Duluth, 

 the formula for inspection being everywhere the same. 



The Government has rented rooms in the building of the 

 Winnipeg Grain Exchange, and in these rooms most of 

 the wheat in western Canada, and all that passes through 

 Winnipeg, is graded. Here, too, the Chief Inspector for 

 the Dominion has his office. 



When a grain train from the West arrives at Winnipeg, 

 a sample of wheat is taken from each car, the other de- 

 tails necessary for issuing certificates are collected in the 

 railway yards, and both samples and details are taken 

 to the inspection office in the Grain Exchange. The in- 

 spectors determine the grade of wheat in any car from the 

 sample supplied them, and it is therefore very necessary 

 that each sample shall be properly secured. The length 

 of time between harvesting and the close of navigation at 

 the head of the lakes is only about seventy days. It is 

 therefore essential that box-cars containing grain shall be 

 delayed for as short a time as possible at Winnipeg. 

 Moreover, hundreds of cars arrive in Winnipeg during the 

 80 E,. Magill, loc. oit. 



