Re-engineering Grain Handling in the 19th Century
Before 1850, most grain was marketed in sacks and depended almost entirely on water
transport. Sacks had certain advantages given the logistics of the period. Sacks of grain could
fit into the awkward spaces of the river boats and could be carried on a man’s shoulder across
gang planks, down a set of stairs and along narrow corridors. The disadvantages of sacks were
equally compelling. Handling was very labour- intensive and consequently expensive. There
were few opportunities for economies of size and the water routes were circuitous and slow.
Marketing grain in sacks incurred high transactions costs. No buyer would purchase
grain sight unseen. This meant that each lot of sacks had to be kept separately, with a
corresponding paper trail. All risk of physical loss, as well as the risk of a price change, was
borne by the shipper. Consequently, freight insurance was a major cost associated with handling
grain in sacks (Cronon, 1991).
Re-engineering of grain handling in the 1850s was caused by technological and
institutional changes that accompanied the invention of the telegraph (1844) and the expansion
of the railway. The speed of oncoming trains had to be very slow with a manual system to signal
an approaching train. The speed of the telegraph signals enabled the trains to run faster and safer
(Yates, 1989; Lubrano, 1997). This encouraged the building of rail lines over longer distances
and increased their competitiveness for freight. Only 2,800 miles of railway track had been built
by 1840. The railway network expanded to 9,000 miles within six years of Samuel Morse’s
invention.
A method of handling grain in bulk was demonstrated by Joseph Dart at Buffalo, NY, in
1842. The railways were early promoters of bulk handling1 because it reduced their labour costs
and sped up the loading of railcars. Lack of an accepted grading system impeded bulk handling
of grain. As long as ownership and value were distinguished by individual lots of grain,
commingling was impossible. The first grading system for grain was introduced in 1856 by the
Chicago Board of Trade. The ability to mix lots into a fungible commodity eliminated the need
for buyers and sellers to be in physical proximity to the product, or to each other, when
conducting their transactions.
The superior speed and lower cost of the railway would have increased bulk transport in
any case, but the impact of the telegraph on transactions costs, sealed the fate of traditional grain
handling. Information about prices, quality and quantity moved at the same speed as the
transport of goods prior to the telegraph. 请帮忙吧上面的内容已成中文，谢谢了，我知道我的分不够，就请大伙帮忙流了，感激不尽！