1 Szpr., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 169 
machinery so necessary in the commercial handling of grain. They neverthe- 
less show, on a small scale, all the essential features of the grain-elevator as 
used elsewhere, and, from an examination of them, we may conclude— 
1. That the climate and wheat of Australia do not place any marked 
difficulties in the way of handling wheat in bulk. 
2. That, in connection with flour-mills, the elevator is, in Australia, as 
everywhere else, a marked success. ; 
3. That the insurance charged here on wooden elevators is not 
exorbitant. 
4, That colonial timber is, to a certain extent, suitable for the construc- 
tion of elevators. 
. That the cost of constructing elevators in New South Wales is not 
prohibitive. 
Cr 
To those conclusions I venture to add my own opinion, based on wide 
observation, that— 
1. Experiment will prove that colonial timber is entirely suitable to the 
construction of wooden elevators. + 
2. That elevators will prove of benefit in handling grain that has been. 
injured by mould, &e. 
A careful consideration of these conclusions, based on elevators already 
‘constructed in New South Wales by the above progressive millers, will show to 
what an extent the supposed difficulties in connection with elevators in Australia 
haye vanished. A little enterprise has caused them to disappear like mist before 
the rising sun. What reason is there to suppose that the further spread of 
this system of handling grain willnot prove equally successful? 
American Grain-cars in Europe, 
No description of the American grain-car could be so graphic as the 
accompanying series of plates, for which I am indebted to Messrs. Dutilh-Smith, 
McMillan, and Co., of Philadelphia. These plates show the nature of the 
grain-cars in use on a variety of well-known American railways. (Figs. 
10 to 16.) 
This type of car has been introduced into Hurope, and a considerable 
number are in use in Germany, Belgium, and England, where they are used 
among other things for the carriage of grain. 
In England more and more of these cars are used year by year, but the 
conservation of the old-fashioned English miller hinders their use for the 
carriage of grain in bulk. The bag system suits these millers, who are 
accustomed to mix their grain in order to produce the flour they require. Such 
_ amiller can say, ‘‘ Use so many bags of this sort of wheat, and so many of that 
sort,” and he dreads any change that will disturb his old and reliable formula, 
cand insists on ordering his sient by the bag. On the other hand, the large 
‘modern English flour-mills are using large storage bins on the elevator 
‘principle, and they prefer to receive their grain in bulk. However, most of the 
wheat in England is still carried in bags, and the common practice of the 
receiving elevators is to deliver in bags. 
Local Objections to the Elevator System. 
The following objections to the elevator system have been raised :— 
1. That we shall have to alter our methods of harvesting, and our 
harvesting machinery. 
2. That we have not sufficient grain. 
3. That our distance from market is too great. 
4, That we have no suitable ships. 
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