MARKETING HAY AT COITNTKY POINTS. 15 



quality of the hay. Investigations conducted by the Bureau of Mar- 

 kets have shown that the majority of country shippers find it to be 

 good business to pay exactly what any particular grade of hay is 

 worth. Consequently, they desire to deal only with producers who 

 are honest. In order to make a deal, however, it is necessary for 

 shipper and producer to come to an agreement as to the price of the 

 hay in question. If the interested parties attempt to agree on the real 

 quality or grade the chances are that they will fail to reach a satis- 

 factory agreement. Few shippers now attempt to buy hay by grade. 

 If they do, they appear to accept the producer's ideas, but they do 

 not pay him what that grade is worth if the hay in question is not 

 really of the grade the producer thinks it is. 



The more common method is for the shipper to learn all he can 

 about the mixture and quality by talking with the producer and in- 

 specting the hay in the barn or at the stack and then make an offer 

 on the ton basis. By this method there is no chance for argument re- 

 garding quality, and the producer can either accept or reject the price 

 offered. As the matter stands at present the true grade of hay and 

 the market price are determined almost solely by the shipper, and it 

 must be admitted that this practice does not work toward bettering 

 the marketing of hay at country points. 



Terms regarding 'baling. — The percentage of hay growers who own 

 baling presses is very small in the timothy and clover growing sec- 

 tions, where the bulk of the market hay is produced. Consequently, 

 when hay is to be marketed, either the producer or the shipper must 

 have the hay baled. In some sections the shipper pays for the baling, 

 and this may lead to trouble for one or both parties as well as the 

 custom baler, depending upon the manner of paying. 



One rather general method is for the shipper to pay the producer, 

 who in turn pays the money over to the man doing the baling. By 

 this method the presser is really working for the producer even 

 though it is the shipper's money that pays for the baling. The pro- 

 ducer is supposed to oversee the work in a general way and is re- 

 sponsible for the baling of the hay in the proper manner. If the pro- 

 ducer merely tells the operator of the press to throw out the worst of it 

 but to bale all hay that is not too bad, it frequently happens that too 

 much of the bad hay is baled with the good. This causes the shipper 

 an endless amount of trouble, especially if he has relied upon the pro- 

 ducer to have it properly baled and is not present when the hay is 

 loaded into the car. It has been found that many disputes between 

 shipper and receiver are due to the fact that the shipper did not see 

 the hay put into the car, but trusted the producer to see that the hay 

 was baled properly. 



Another common method is for the shipper to do the baling. In 

 such cases the press operator is working directly for the shipper. 



