22 BULLETIN 977, 17. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Under certain conditions this is satisfactory, while under others it 

 is anything but satisfactory. The success of this method of handling 

 hay depends upon several factors: (1) Kind or grade of hay han- 

 dled; (2) amount to he handled in a given length of time; (3) 

 ability of the shipper to get the required number of cars when they 

 are needed. If only one car is to be loaded, it will be necessary for 

 the shipper to see that the amount needed to fill the car is fairly 

 uniform in quality. If he has purchased a carload from a single 

 producer whose entire lot varies in quality, it will be necessary to 

 have some other producer bring in sufficient hay of the desired grade 

 to make up a carload. 



It is such a difficult matter to get two producers or more to bring 

 in practically the same grade of hay that many shippers let the 

 small producer who has a single carload of hay bring it ail in 

 and load it into the car. Eight here is one of the greatest faults 

 found to-day with the hay business, namely, loading cars unevenly. 

 Such cars cause trouble all along the line. 



Formerly shippers did not experience much difficulty in procuring 

 cars as ordered. With sufficient cars and plenty of hay coming in, 

 it is a comparatively easy matter to inspect hay by the wagonload 

 method and direct the driver to place his load in a certain car. By 

 this method the shipper might in one day load several cars of the 

 better grades and be able to put all the lower grade hay into a single 

 car. Thus the shipper could make an honest invoice on each car 

 and avoid trouble, which he could not do if he had to work 2 or 

 3 tons of off-haj^ into the corners of the car, where it could not be 

 detected until the car was unloaded. 



In recent years shippers have experienced great difficulty in pro- 

 curing cars when needed. The only solution of the trouble caused 

 by inability to get several cars at once, so that hay may be graded 

 as it is loaded, is for shippers to provide warehouses for the sorting 

 and storing of hay where it may be kept until they can procure cars. 



USE AND VALUE OF WAREHOUSES. 



Shippers are divided in their opinions as to the use and value of 

 warehouses at country shipping points. Some have been very suc- 

 cessful in warehousing hay, while others think that warehouses are 

 merely a needless expense. It all depends upon the conditions under 

 which the shipper operates. 



The value of a warehouse depends upon: (1) Volume of business; 

 (2) number of shipping points; (3) location of the warehouse 

 (shipping point) with reference to the direction of shipment; (4) 

 obtaining of billing in transit privileges. 



If a shipper does all or the larger percentage of his business at one 

 shipping point, there is little question about the success of warehous- 



