MARKETING GRAIN AT COUNTRY POINTS. 85 
with regard to these matters. Bills for fuel, light, and miscellaneous 
supplies, which include tools, oil, and waste, together with repairs, 
may be rendered less burdensome by proper attention. 
Depreciation on the plant and interest on the investment also 
should be considered in figuring the cost of operation. When 
building a new plant it is wise to consider these items with relation to 
different methods of construction. The amount of necessary working 
eapital is affected also by the method of doing business. If the grain 
' is shipped and drafts drawn as rapidly as a carload of each grade is 
/ accumulated, very little capital is necessary; but if large quantities 
are held for any length of time, pending a more favorable market, 
or for any other reason, the amount required is increased greatly. 
For example, figuring interest at 6 per cent, to hold wheat costing 
$1 per bushel for 80 days involves an expense of one-half cent per 
bushel. 
LOSS FROM SHRINKAGE. 
As stated above, few dealers attempt to ascertain the shrinkage 
of grain in handling, although, on the basis of the few figures sub- 
mitted, this item amounts to from four-tenths to six-tenths of a cent 
per bushel. The amount can be reduced considerably by proper pre- 
cautions. It isa matter of common knowledge among elevator opera- 
tors that grain can not be unlcaded into an elevator or out, even 
under the most favorable conditions, without some shrinkage. If 
scales are incorrect, if elevator boots and spouting leaks, if the grain 
is improperly cleaned, or is damp when received and dries out subse- 
quently, or if it is shipped in poorly-coopered cars that leak while 
in transit, this loss is increased. Scales should be examined from time 
to time, and spouts, elevators, and all other machinery should be in- 
spected frequently. 
When grain is to be cleaned, care should be exercised that the clean- 
ing machinery is performing its proper functions, is equipped with 
proper screens, and that the blast from fans and aspirators is so regu- 
lated that the grain will be cleaned sufliciently to reach the desired 
grade without removing any grain of value. A number of cases were 
noted during the course of this investigation where, through the use 
of inadequate machinery, the use of too large or too small mesh 
screens, or an improperly directed blast or air from fans or aspi- 
rators, either the grain had not been cleaned sufficiently or a consid- 
erable amount of good grain had been sacrificed in the screenings. 
In the first instance the grade of the grain had not been improved 
and no adequate return would be received for the cost of cleaning, 
while in the second case good grain, unnecessarily removed, was sold 
with the screenings at a relatively low price, thus materially in- 
creasing the cost of cleaning. 
