10 BULLETIN" 979, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



is almost impossible to classify and grade this kind of hay even 

 through a warehouse. Improper storage may also cause considerable 

 difficulty and does not contribute to uniform loading. Hay stored 

 in barns which are out of repair is frequently damaged from the 

 weather. A leak in the roof may cause a damaged spot several feet 

 in diameter and several feet deep in the mow. Although the baler 

 may not intend to mix this damaged hay with the good, part of the 

 bales are likely to contain some of the damaged hay and if these 

 bales are not separated from the others they will probably cause 

 a discount on the price of the whole carload. Similar troubles may 

 be experienced when hay is baled from a stack from which all 

 weather-damaged hay has not been taken before baling. Dam- 

 aged hay left on the sides of the stack is sure to appear in some of 

 the bales, so that the quality of the lot will not be uniform. 



The quality of a car of hay may not be uniform because of conditions 

 of handling. Several different lots may be loaded into the same car. 

 Where country shippers have loading sidings but no warehouses, the 

 hay is generally loaded into the cars just as it is delivered by the pro- 

 ducer. If the shipper or his representative is present to see that the 

 hay delivered corresponds in quality to the grade bought he may sort 

 out the badly damaged bales and refuse to take them. Frequently, 

 however, the shipper has bought the hay by the lot at a specified price 

 and the producer insists on delivering without regard to variation in 

 quality. If enough hay is being delivered to load several cars at a 

 time the shipper may be able to classify the hay and load the different 

 grades into different cars, provided he can get the cars as needed. 



Some shippers depend upon producers to load their own hay, and 

 this practice often causes considerable difficulty. Because of their 

 lack of opportunity to familiarize themselves with the grades of 

 market hay, producers usually do not comprehend the need for load- 

 ing cars exclusively with hay of a certain grade or mixture. They 

 usually assume that the best grade of hay is the kind relished by their 

 own stock, but grades based principally upon color and mixture are 

 used as the basis of quality by buyers and receivers. Producers, there- 

 fore, can not be expected to classify and load their hay according to 

 the grades desired by a buyer in some section of the country the 

 requirements of which they have had no opportunity to learn. 



Ability to obtain cars as needed is one of the factors in uniform 

 loading. The shipper may order two or more cars to be placed at his 

 loading point and may receive assurance from the railroad agent that 

 they will be there on a certain date. He therefore arranges with the 

 farmers from whom he has bought lots of hay to begin delivery on 

 that date. The short time allowed by railroads in which to load cars 

 makes it necessary to begin loading promptly after the cars are placed. 

 When hay must be hauled some distance, the shipper frequently ar- 

 ranges to have some of it on hand when the cars arrive. 



