Alfalfa in Kansas. 455 



The amount of Kansas alfalfa coming to the Kansas City market 

 varies with the season. The heaviest recepits of alfalfa in 1914 were 

 from Colorado; in 1915, as nearly as I can estimate, about 60 per cent 

 of the alfalfa arriving here originated in Kansas. The counties of Kan- 

 sas that are shipping the bulk of the alfalfa coming to this market 

 are Lyon, Marion, Greenwood, Chautauqua, Cowley, Harper, Morris, 

 Saline, Wabaunsee, Ottawa, Clay, Marshall, Republic, Osborne, Phillips, 

 Chase, Butler, Elk, Sumner, Barber, Dickinson, Geary, Shawnee, Cloud, 

 Riley, Washington, Mitchell, and Smith. 



Let us assume that 75 to 85 per cent of the hay arriving here is sold 

 for reshipment, and that the buyer knows whether the consumer wants 

 the hay for horses, mules, cattle, or fancy dairy feeding. The require- 

 ments and points he most considers are: feeding value, regardless of 

 color; the general character and condition; the loading, whether full 

 minimum weight, whether bales loaded flat or on edge, the size of the 

 bales (75-pound preferred) ; and whether well baled. Etc watches for 

 musty or grass-mixed hay, for stack-spotted bales, for floor bales, ground 

 bales, or otherwise stained bales. To get a more practical understand- 

 ing of the buyer's needs the reader might imagine himself in Kansas 

 City and follow the writer to the hay tracks where the trading is done. 



First let me explain that all hay coming to this market is placed on 

 team track for inspection and sale. A gang of men, called "pluggers," 

 pulls out fifty to seventy bales and piles them on the pavement. The 

 car is opened from end to end. The inspector examines and grades each 

 car. The hay, however, is not sold on his inspection, but is sold on its 

 merits. The buyer and salesman thoroughly examine the car, the one 

 arguing in favor of the quality and the other against it, until finally the 

 trade is made. Here are some practical illustrations: 



First illustration: Here is a car plugged out. We call every buyer on 

 the market, but they pass by. They do not even get into the car. They 

 are not interested. We work on it the second day with the same results; 

 and the third day, plugged out again. No one wants it. What is the 

 matter? The hay is musty, damaged, hot, has no color. There is no 

 cheap-feed demand. It is a car of hay on which the commission man 

 may earn his commission but upon which he often loses his reputation as 

 a hay salesman. It is the kind of hay the producer should sell or feed 

 at home. 



Second illustration: This car is of fairly good color, with high feed- 

 ing value, but the plug shows a few bales slightly stack-stained, or a few 

 ground-stained or otherwise stained bales. It is sold at $1 to $2 per ton 

 under what it would have brought had a few bales been kept at home. 

 It officially grades "standard alfalfa, part stained." In other words, do 

 not spoil a good car of hay with a few off bales. 



Third illustration: Here is a car of high-colored alfalfa, attracting 

 four or five buyers. It is finally sold at $12. It would have brought $1 

 per ton more had it not been for the fact the bales are loaded flat instead 

 of on edge, and a further fact that the hay was sweaty. Remember, hay 

 damages worse when bales are loaded flat. It officially grades "No. 

 1 alfalfa, part hot." $ 



