24 BULLETIN 977, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



COST OF WAREHOUSING HAY. 



Data are lacking on the actual cost of warehousing hay under dif- 

 ferent conditions. A statement of the usual cost will enable ship- 

 pers to form some definite idea of the general cost of warehousing. 

 When hay is put through a warehouse in transit, the stop-over privi- 

 lege costs about $3.50 per car. Unloading into the warehouse costs 

 about 35 cents per ton additional. The total cost of unloading, put- 

 ting the hay through the warehouse, and back again into the car 

 costs about $1. This charge is the cost of labor only and does not 

 include overhead charges, such as repairs, interest on investment, 

 insurance, and depreciation on the warehouse. 



A WELL-EQUIPPED AVAREHOUSE. 



The following description of a well-equipped warehouse is given 

 for the benefit of those who are considering the building of ware- 

 houses in which to sort and grade hay. The warehouse herein 

 described is located in northeastern Michigan, has been in operation 

 for several years, and is considered to meet all of the requirements 

 of a country warehouse. 



It is equipped with motor-driven machinery so arranged that with 

 the help of about six men, it can unload, grade and store a car of hay 

 in about 30 minutes. A car can also be reloaded in about the same 

 time. As the hay is unloaded from the cars it is placed upon a 

 chain elevator and conveyor, which takes it to a grading platform 

 on the fourth floor of the warehouse. At this platform a man 

 grades each bale as it arrives and places it in one of the three chutes 

 which lead from the platform to the different locations on the three 

 lower floors of the warehouse. By operating levers which con- 

 trol gates in these chutes, hay can be placed in nine different loca- 

 tions in the warehouse. 



The grading platform and the conveyor which brings the hay 

 to the grader are shown in figure 1. This figure also shows the 

 opening to one of the chutes and the levers which control the gates 

 or switches. Another conveyor on the lower floor carries the hay 

 from the warehouse to the car and is so arranged that the hay from 

 the second and third floors can be placed in the chutes and be de- 

 livered to the reloading conveyor. The estimated cost of handling 

 hay through this warehouse is $1.50 per ton. 



DISADVANTAGES OF WAREHOUSING. 



Aside from the added cost of handling, some shippers claim that 

 warehouses are a disadvantage to them for the reason that when the 

 farmers know that the shipper has storage space for their hay they 

 will insist on bringing it in at times most convenient to them, so that 



