The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 17, 1916, Page 5

- farmer HOW hey Grade Your Whea - The Whole Sy stem Is a Farce, Says Veteran Inspector; - Only Solutlon Termmal Elevators Owned bv the State A view in the Minneapolis-St. Paul elevator and miiling district, where tl\e great gram termmals and mills are located. Marketing and handling the farmers’ producta of the northwest have here built up a tremendous industry. (By Leader Staff Correspondent) T. PAUL, Minn, August 12— “What do-you think of the Minne- sota grain grades, under which, under present conditions, all the grain of North and South Dakota and Minnesota is rharketed ?¥ This [cGovern, veteran grain' grader, now ith the - Equity Coopemtlve exchange, 4‘ ~ who has handled grain for 36 years. Mr. McGovern had his sleeves rolled up and his hands were in a pan of grain, which he was “feeling.” He smiled. “Why, they’re a.joke—that is, it would be funny if it wasn’t so serious,” he said. “Grain is sold here under grades —the Minnesota grades— which are - a system of guess work, more or less ‘good guesges, but they have noth- " ing whatever to do with the real value 'of the grain. “Some “inspector guesses’ ~what grade a sample of grain is, and ‘that’s the grade it must be sold or purchased under. 'If you don’t like 'his. guess you can call in another guesser, a re-inspector, he is called. Je guesses_on it and, chances are, confirms the first guesser, whose . guess he is apprised of beforehand. ‘Then you can call in three more guessers, if you are still disatisfied. ‘They ‘call these_three the hoard of ‘appeals. You must tell them what the other two have guessed and then they confirm.the unanimous opinion of the other two guessers, and there you are. “In all this guessmg there is/no inten- tion of arriving at the real value of the grain for - milling purposes,. except -by chance—not any way. of sclenhfically determmmg ‘just how good the gram is for mxl]mg it . ONLY FAIR GRADES BY MILLING TESTS -“How would you-grade 1t, if you ‘had your way ?” Mr. McGovern was asked. “Fair grades will never exist till they : are established by milling ‘tests. How can.I or anybody else tell. the value of grain by sight and touch? It may look poot and yet be as valuable for mflhng ’.0.................I...O........O..O..O.....O..O.......Q. as grain that looks pretty to the eye. Farmers will never get justice in grad- ing; producers will mever be sure they are gettmg full value. for their product till grain'is graded by laboratory test, scientifically according to its real value ~ for milling.” Mr. McGovern went to a stack of pans - containing gram samples and selected two. -« question was put to J. A “The difference in our guesses may mean several cents a bushel to the grower. As a matter of fact neither he or 1 know just' how much that wheat has been damaged by frost for milling purposes, and " under present conditions it is considered of no unportance to find out before the farmer is given his grade. ““Here,” he said, “is grain gmded No. How can my eye or his eye tell just how . 4 under the present system. The deep that frost has penetrated the grain gets a . substantially. reduced and just how much -value it has taken price for it. It is grain that has been off for milling purposes?- It may have “frosted. I look at it and feel of it, or damaged the wheat to no npprecxable some state inspector does. He guesses extent, although: it looks bad. :1t1bdamagedformlllmgtosuchan- extent that it shouldsellasNo.L . should be called on. The state No. 8. ; tlimk it ought to be ‘“Right here, at least, the laboratory inspector - insxstsitsto.4wheat Imsxstitm -J. A McGovérn, veteran grain grader of St. Paul, who. points out the injustices of the “Minnesota grades” in the aceompanymg mter- view with a representatlve of the Leader. ; . No. 8. We don’t go to a laboratory to prove which is right and give the farmer exact justice. Certainly not. I apply for re-inspection’ and call in another state guesser. He has had no more experience in grain than I have or the first - inspector: has. He is no better quahfled than we are to guess the grade of that frosted wheat. But the law gives him @ 'guess.. He must be told what the first inspector graded the gra.m, at. He will not, under the rules, re-in- spect and grade xt unless-he knows what ‘the first inspector has said about: it. He therefore knows the first inspector has given it No. 4 and that I am asking :for a Nd. 3. grad& He can not, therefore, _isn’t it? appeals simply confirms. the No. 4 grade < .....‘..‘lO.....'........’........0.....0...."’..0.....‘.......O.I.O... give a free, impartial opinion and grade, for ‘he. is influenced by the judgment of thé man who called it No. 4. “Say he confirms the first inspector, as 2 is usually the case. Then, if I am still dissatisfied, I can appeal to the grain board of appeals. There are three men on the board and they have had no more experience and know no more about - grain and grading than myself or the ' inspector or re-inspector. It is just giving some more men a guess. No attempt is made, even at this point, to get an accurate laboratory report on that graim The board of appeals, under the rules, must know what the grain was graded at on first inspection and on : re-inspection. In the case we are con- sidering, therefore, it knows, before it . makes its decision, that two inspectors have called the grain No. 4 and that it is . two to one against me—two of the . inspectors calling it No. 4 and 'me calling | The majority is against me, | it No. 3. Sure. The . grain board of . and the farmer gets the No. 4 price. The . guessing is over and nothing has been determined as to the actual value of that grain for milling. But it must be sold | as No. 4, and probably is a mighty good buy at that for some mill. FARMERS SUFFER FROM ' GRADERS' PREJUDICES “Take this sample here. This xé smutty wheat. Not very much smut in’ it, to be sure, but enough to lower: the"- grade considerably. Now, those smut balls have not injured the rest of the grain. - “When' cleaned by the mill before grinding this wheat will be No. 1. No doubt of it. But the state inspector has guessed = that that smut,- those ‘few, grains, you see here and there through * . the sample, has lowered the grade. He doesn’t know and I don’t know exactly. by, - looking at it how much the milling value - has been lessened by that smut. We " both guess on it and may and may not " agree. If we call for reinspection it will; simply. be another guess. | “Chances are that the amount of smut in this sample has not affected the value ‘ of the grain for milling at all, becayse it has to be_cleaned. anyway before mill- ing. But the grade is lowered ‘and the farmer sufférs. - “What earthly reason is there for not determmmg these _things scientifically, in fairness to farmer and miller alike, instead of the present guessmg ‘system?. - The only reason I know is because the grain combine is opposed to a change, and to date that has seemed to be enough reason. INSPECTORS “TIGHTEN UP” WHEN CROP IS MOVING “I’'ve been in the business 36 years— since I was a boy. * I figure my guessing is pretty good, as good as any, when it | comes to grading, and I guess the same, day in and day out.’ So my judgment todayastogmdeoughttobeasgood as on any oth_er day of the year. But: o e ¥ V8 L e i a | e e e U