SAMPLING GRAIN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14416, 11 April 1911, Page 2

SAMPLING GRAIN.

To the Editor oi the " Timaru Herald." S'r, — I ha.ro s<-en a little currespondenci.' <>ii the subject of sampling grain, and ] would liko Mr Talbot to explain tho l>est way to test- as tin.* is a v-ei'y vexed rjuostiun, and \\y do not &euiu to bo any further advanced than wo v.cro thirty yours a^o; iii fact, old samplers will toll you that when ltoyse, Stead and Co.. aud Cunningham und Co. iii:d to ship largely ironi T:n;aru, about that time thero were up to and over 100,000 sacks flipped Homo in. a year by those iirms, and they classed tho wheal moro particularly than it'is classed to-day. ■liven the sauio variety had different brands according to whether it was white or rod etc., and 1 may say 'here that no two Munplers i.'rade exactly alike, so thero i> a ii'ivat- deal of individual opinion even' niimny so-tailed experts. My opinion i«; that farmer* aro to blame in the majority of eases for"tho trouble they experience, both! w»th their qualities and weights. So lonu; as they trust to every r fom. D>k ami Harry, watch their interest? so lonji " ill there be trouble. Xow as regards weights there i> always trouble with some oi them. livery year thenv is no improvement in the "weighing «t-----tho throbbing milK 1)1' course there nre somo right,- but I might average fully half to be either over or under. | the majority under weight. Only a j week n£o 1 found a truck with 07 , sacks from one owner to be 400 lbs. I lighter than the other truck next to I it. One was 31b. under weight, and I tbo other 31b. over weight, and that U i a common occurrence. XaturaUv tho ■ one who had short weight would b'> ! dissatisfied when he settled up. whereas j the v.thor would be well pleased. Thou s as regards the oi' the wheat, any oxnereneed farmer like Mr Talbot know* there are sitnny face* on hills that'would 2»:\Vr> better* wheat than the south s:ck> of the same hill, as quality dppcncU more on sunshine than even on the nature oi the ;-oil in mv opinion. M:;»Tvcr. 1 will allow a Ynmier to jiKi-c for himsalf. "Why 1. mention :s a farmer says it war, all out of the same paudock. and it could not be any dili'erout, anil then some do not steak north aud south always, and the st-.:oks have net an eeual" share of the sun, and there are often lagoons or sh*.i2g?o patches, or old straw sticks, etc , where the. gram does nnl viuen regularly, and it, is carted in at the sarao t:nu> as the rest- of the crop, "llioss spots should never be rnixt-d with the regular sample. Then again after rain tho tops of stacks reouire to be carefully classed, a-* there is often o:\<i end of a sack damp, and the other ••end dry, and. of course, tho whole sack is reiw-U-d if thero is n* bushel damp. Also, tho bottoms of tli stacks are often niustv, if not" hearted up properly, aud again, after put tin*; iu tho sacks there is nut-, enough straw under them. If they hare to 1 o a lou£ time thov get. musty and. dead . feeling,, .and." sometimesworse. But tile -chief cause of trouhlo this year has been that- tlu> wheat, has. not been long enough in the siook hetore stacking <u- threshing, or'in the stacK.long enough. • cither. .1 have heard or wheat being cut- this realtime had only had a little over a week in tile .pacldiirk.. although it was cutTOO green, ::ud xlieu it Has threshed a week after stacking. "Well. T reckon he threw away his labour .stacking, as it would' have ken better in the stook that exira week. The eonseriuonco of all this is that the wheat is not. iind nerer will he t;ood milling. I ami oiilv g-.Ting you a lew samples of t!ie causes of wheat lieinfc rei(>cted when it comes to tile mill or ship's side. If jliis would help to "teach the farmers a*'lesson, ;I would think it a nleasure t<> do it. but my experience in 8.3 years has been that there are ; certain' ones who will never improve. I could jro 011 enumerating causes of trouble, t-he principal one I believe, that the farmer brings m a good sample when, he lias varying qualities of wheat in the same stack, and lie considers he is fair when he mixes the good and had together, or perhaps, he does not know he Ims any bad, therefore, when it goes into store he has it classed for him. Take smutty wheat for examole. a man brings in what ho may or mav nottn:nk :s a fa:r samnle. and nine t : mes out of ten there are "some better and some very mneh worse than the sample. Of course if it is much worse it is rejected. I know it is a difficult thing to get r. fair sanmle of snnittv wheat. The only way would be to sell it in bulk, and wt< are not advanced to that stage yet. The moral of it ai! is 'that :f the farmer looks after his work »rn. ; perly, ihc-re will he very little trouble at the other end oi' the line. As it one goes home wrjl pieced with himself Sintl everybody else, aud another

ih'uk .he is rohlud. ami it k through Ms civn iaull n iu> tini"ut •»i tun." —1 am. cti\. JOHN* YI3NNI N(«. V.S. —I may say right hore thiil if r>amp!ers went strictly by sample. then* would l>o thousands uioro rejected than there are. There is nothing a sampler greater pleasure than to Ik; able roiiM-a-til iously and according to jmltimiMit. to uahs uheat as koihl, as ills nut a pleasant duty to l»t i continually ii'.jocl'tie. wheat. although it. mijjht bi> vnur own lather's. I liave been a shilling a Inulisl and liiuro difference in the when the prires of good and bad wheat wero furtiier anarf. than thay aio to-day, so a sampler has yrcat responsibilities thrown on bitu if he does hi* duiy properly, and b© lias to liaixkn his heart against all sentiment in thu matter. IJowevor, my last word is this to the farmer, if.be loolwd after his work as well as samplers loolc alter their*, there would he no trouble, r.i;d ht> eoultl count his money beforehand with saiety, and ho sure of jotting it all when he cumc for it.—J. V,