MARKETING HAY AT COUNTRY POINTS. 5 



the average producer or shipper to take any chances on having his 

 hay arrive on the market in a heated condition, since there is no de- 

 mand for this kind of hay. 



STAINED AND BLEACHED HAY. 



Stained hay is not wanted in any market. It is regarded as fit 

 only for bedding, for feeders believe that stained hay is neither 

 nourishing nor palatable. Producers do not give much thought to 

 hay that is stained in spots when feeding it on the farm. They know 

 that the animal will eat the good hay and leave the stained parts. 

 The dealer and feeder, not knowing how much stained hay is con- 

 tained in a bale, either refuse to purchase such hay at all or buy 

 it at a price low enough to make ample allowances for the stained 

 portion. This applies to all kinds of market hay, with the excep- 

 tion of alfalfa. The amount of bleached hay allowed in alfalfa is 

 exceedingly small in the higher grades. 



WET AND SNOWY HAY. 



Hay wet either by rain or snow causes considerable trouble in 

 markets. Most of the trouble occurs during the winter months, when 

 hay containing snow is baled. During cold weather the hay will 

 remain dry and many producers and shippers either overlook or 

 ignore the snow when they ship the hay. When snowy hay reaches 

 the South or when the weather turns warm the hay becomes wet and 

 sometimes heats and becomes moldy. 



In some parts of the South this phenomenon is called a second 

 " heating " or sweating and dealers do not regard such hay as having 

 been properly prepared. A legitimate business can not be built up 

 or maintained if shippers continue to sell such hay as first-class, 

 properly cured hay. The fact that shipper or producer failed to' 

 learn that snow was in the hay has led to endless trouble and loss of 

 money. 



MUSTY OB MOLDY HAY. 



Musty or moldy hay is an indication of improper curing or of 

 spoiling by rain or snow after it has been put into the barn or 

 stack. Such hay is not palatable and is not very salable, because 

 if any bad hay shows on the outside of the bale the feeder has no way 

 of estimating the amount of bad hay there may be inside the bale. 

 Unless hay is abnormally high in price, it is far better to feed moldy 

 or musty hay on the farm rather than try to market it, especially on 

 the terminal markets, where it may have to pass an official inspection. 



FAULTY METHODS OF BALING. 



In some markets size and weight of bales is an important factor, 

 since there is sometimes a difference of several dollars a ton in the 



