20 BULLETIN &77 ? U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



real No. 1 hay. while to some other customer he can ship a poor No. 

 2 and it will be received as a No. 1 hay. If the shipper varies in 

 grading hay as it is being received from the producer, he will not be 

 able to continue the use of this method very long in any community. 

 If uniform grades and an effective, unbiased inspection service 

 were to be adopted in terminal markets it is believed that most 

 shippers would feel entirely satisfied to have the hay graded by an 

 official inspector and settle with the producer on the basis of such 

 inspection. By this method the producer could easily learn the 

 grades of hay and in a short time would actually be able to sell his 

 hay by grades on the farm after it was baled, sorted, and piled for 

 inspection by the shipper. 



COST OF MARKETING HAY BY THE PRODUCER. 



COST OF BALING. 



The largest single item of cost in preparing hay for the market 

 is that of baling. Only the large hay growers own baling presses. 

 The most of the baling of market hay, in the timothy and clover 

 section, is done by custom pressers. These men usually start up 

 their presses after the hay has gone through the " sweat " in the stack 

 or barn, in September, and bale more or less continuously until the 

 next crop is ready to be harvested. 



The present price for baling is much higher than just before the 

 war, ranging from $2.50 to about $1 per ton. In many instances the 

 producer furnishes the wire and the labor required to get the hay 

 from the stack or barn to the press feeder. In addition it is some- 

 times necessary for the producer to board the regular press crew, 

 consisting of three or four men. Considering that a two-horse press 

 will turn out about 10 tons per day, and a power press from 12 to a 

 little over 20 tons per day, it will be noted that baling is a rather 

 costly item if the crew's board is added to the other costs. 



Under present conditions it is probable that many producers could 

 well afford to own presses for baling their hay. If desired, consider- 

 able pressing could be done for others near by, and thus the cost of 

 repairs, interest on the investment, and replacement charges per ton 

 would be at the minimum for the producer's hay. 6 



COST OF DELIVERING. 



The producer usually agrees to deliver his hay at a point designated 

 by the shipper at the time the sale is made. Shippers do not as a rule 

 have means of bringing in hay from the country, as it would hardly 

 pay them to maintain horses or trucks just for hauling hay. The 



e A full discussion of crew arrangement and cost of baling hay is given in Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 1049, " Baling Hay." 



