THE WEIGHING OF MARKET HAY. 15 



any blank piece of paper, the unused part of an envelope, a shingle, 

 or a piece of board. 



A better method, however, which is in use at many country points, 

 is the use of scale tickets in duplicate or a scale book in which the 

 weights may be recorded on a stub for future reference as well as 

 upon the tickets, which may be detached and given to the driver of 

 the wagon or the owner or buyer of the hay. 



At some points where considerable weighing is done registering- 

 beam scales are now used. These scales differ from others only in 

 the construction of the weight beam. These beams are so made that 

 the entire capacity of the scale can be indicated on the beam and there 

 is a mechanical device on the poise weight which will print upon a 

 ticket inserted in it the amount of the weight indicated by its loca- 

 . tion on the beam. This device eliminates the possibility of mis- 

 reading the weight indicated by the poise and other weights used 

 on other scales, but it does not insure correct tabulation or totaling 

 of the weights of the various drafts. 



AT TERMINAL MARKETS. 



Wagon scales at terminal markets do not differ from those used 

 at shipping points, but where railroads, public-service agencies, ex- 

 changes, or other commercial bodies furnish official weight certifi- 

 cates for commodities weighed by them, certain qualifications, and 

 frequently bonds, are required of the weighmasters, and their work 

 is under the supervision of a chief weighmaster, who sees that the 

 various regulations are complied with. 



Official certificates are not necessarily more accurate or of more 

 value than certificates issued by any financially responsible indi- 

 vidual. Interested parties are protected against dishonest weights 

 by law if they desire to avail themselves of its protection. Section 

 10 of the interstate commerce act provides that any person who, by 

 an act of false ^veighing or false report of weight, shall be deemed 

 guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon conviction thereof in any 

 court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, within the 

 district in which such offense was committed, be subject to a fine 

 not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term 

 of not exceeding two years, or both, in the discretion of the court, for 

 each offense. 



Probably the reason official certificates are considered with more 

 favor by the trade than private certificates is because more care by 

 means of supervision and various regulations is usually taken to 

 insure their correctness. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICIAL WEIGHMASTERS. 



The ability to read and write and to operate a scale are practically 

 the only qualifications required of those who are appointed as official 



