IMPORTANT TO WHEAT SHIPPERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 939, 18 April 1882, Page 3

IMPORTANT TO WHEAT SHIPPERS.

The following paragraph, which will be of great interest to farmers and those engaged in the shipment of wheat, is taken from the Australian Shipping News of last month The practice of shooting wheat into ships in loading, although expeditious, is objectionable, as in many cases the bags burst during the process, and the grain necessarily gets loose in the hold, and sometimes finds its way to the well, choking the pumps when in use. The pratice of ‘ bleeding ’ and ‘trying ’ is equally objectionable, as the grian gets loose through the holes made in the bags. Another equally objectionable practice is that which has been adopted lately, among Victorian farmers at anyrate, of cramming as mueh wheat as can possibly be forced into each bag, so that when sewn up there are no ‘ears’ by which to handle the bag, and it is distended until it is as tight as a drum ; the consequence of this is that the stevedores, finding nothing to lay hold of, very naturally take to their hooks, and this as naturally results in occasional holes in the bags, from which the wheat to a 1 greater or less extent escapes. So serious a matter is this that the Merchant Shipping and Underwriters’ Association, Melbourne, have requested their agents in London to call for a special report from their surveyor, who superintends the discharge of vessels from these colonies, as to the condition of the Victorian wheat cargoes on arrival with loose grain ; and if reports bears out their anticipatations, measures will doubtless be taken before next season to bring about an alteration in the method of bagging wheat. ”