As of the late 1800s:
- What constitutes the difference in grades of barley?
The following are the rules governing the State inspection of barley in Chicago:
No. 1 barley shall be plump, bright, clean, and free from other grain.
No. 2 barley shall be sound, of healthy color, bright or but slightly stained, not plump enough for No. 1, reasonably clean, and reasonably free from other grain.
No. 3 barley shall include slightly shrunken and otherwise slightly damaged barley, not good enough for No. 2.
No. 4 barley shall include all barley fit for malting purposes, not good enough for No. 3.
No. 5 barley shall include all barley which is badly damaged, or for any cause unfit for malting purposes, except that barley which has been chemically heated shall not be graded at all.
- Wherein does the color of barley affect the quality of the grain?
The color of barley is an indication of its age and condition in several respects.
- How, except to gouge the farmer, did the custom of making fifty pounds of barley for the bushel originate, the legal standard being forty-eight pounds?
The legal bushel by weight is different
in different States. In California and Nevada it is 50 pounds; in
Wisconsin and most other States it is 48; in Pennsylvania, 47; in
Oregon, 46; in Louisiana it is only 32. Boards of trade make rules
for themselves, one object being uniformity for the whole country.
- Are farmers under obligation to conform to board of trade rules, contrary to law?
As a rule, statutes fixing the weight per bushel of various commodities specify that this is to apply only in cases where contracts fail to specify the weight to be given. When grain is sold on ’Change the rules of the board determine the weight to be
delivered. Since seller and purchaser are presumed to be acquainted with these rules, it is hard to imagine how either can justly complain of being “gouged.”
Source:
The Inter Ocean Curiosity Shop for the year 1883
edited by William P. Jones, A. M.
Seventh Edition
The Inter Ocean Publishing Company,
Madison and Dearborn Streets
Chicago
1891