14 BULLETIN 918, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



TESTING AND BALANCING THE SCALE. 



The same care is necessary in testing and balancing the wagon 

 scale as with the portable or dormant platform scale. Scales should 

 be examined and tested frequently by an experienced scale man and 

 they should also be kept in good repair and in balance. When scales 

 are under cover and in a dry place they do not require balancing so 

 frequently as when situated in the open, but considerable soil or trash 

 may be carried upon them, especially when roads are in bad condi- 

 tion. At such times it is necessary to balance them several times a 

 day, whereas in dry weather probably once each day would be suffi- 

 cient. Scales located in the open must be balanced more frequently, 

 especially in rainy weather, as they will absorb several pounds of 

 moisture during a shower and will lose it again quickly when the sun 

 shines upon them. 



WEIGHING THE DRAFT. 



To obtain the correct weight of a draft requires care and accu- 

 racy on the part of the weigher. In weighing hay, especially loose 

 hay, the wagon must be entirely on the scale and the load must not 

 be in contact with the sides of the scale house or beam box. Care 

 must be taken that the presence of the team does not influence the 

 weight. If a motor truck is used, it should be brought to rest in 

 proper position on the scale, and if the running of the motor disturbs 

 the weighing it should be stopped (fig. 5). 



There should be a fixed rule as to whether the driver should be 

 weighed with the load, but as a general practice it is better always 

 to weigh the load without the driver or any other objects on it or 

 on the empty wagon when the tare weight is taken. This will prevent 

 any mistakes caused by the weigher forgetting what was weighed 

 on or off the load. Numbers of instances have been found of errors 

 caused by allowing loads to be weighed on which, were farm imple- 

 ments, bags of grain, or other articles which were not on the truck 

 or wagon when the tare weight was obtained. 



TABULATING THE WEIGHTS. 



It is as important that the weights be recorded accurately as that 

 the hay be weighed correctly. At country loading points it is gen- 

 erally impossible to have a sworn weigher in charge of the scales, 

 and the weighing is usually done by the owner of the scales or by one 

 of his employees. The qualifications of the weighers in such instances 

 are but ordinary intelligence, the ability to do the physical act of 

 weighing, to read the amount indicated on the beam or by the weights, 

 and to write the amount upon a scale ticket or book. 



In many instances but little system is used in recording the weights 

 and the amounts of the gross, tare, and net weight are written upon 



