Grain is carried to the docks in barges, schooners, or on cars, and is
seldom shipped except in sacks. Wheat, unless it needs to be cleaned or
graded, is kept in the sack in which it leaves the home field. To watch
the grain being loaded in the ship is a sight well worth seeing. If the
wharf, or car, or warehouse where it lies is higher than the deck of the
vessel on which it is to be shipped, the sacks are placed on an inclined
chute down which they descend to the hold of the ship. If the deck of
the vessel is the higher, sometimes an endless belt, run by electricity,
is placed in a chute, the sacks are laid on the belt, and so carried to
their resting place.
In loading wheat for export, a number of sacks in each row are bled;
that is, a slit is made in the sack which allows a small quantity of
grain to escape and fill the spaces round the corners and sides of the
sack, thus making a compact cargo which is not liable to shift. At Port
Costa is located a grader, where, when necessary wheat can be cleaned
and graded; here also are many large warehouses.
For a long time about two thirds of the wheat crop of the state was sent
to Ireland, but now our new lands in the Pacific take much of it.
Pages:
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280