MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 23 



tice more than any other has probably caused buyers to demand 

 destination terms. Another unfair practice is the shipment of hay 

 of a lower grade than that specified in the terms of sale. When the 

 demand is urgent it is thought that the buyer will be compelled to 

 accept the lower grade because he can get no other before his stock 

 is exhausted. Another is the delaying of shipments sold for deferred 

 delivery beyond the time specified. This is done in order to obtain 

 more money by shipping to some other market. Other hay is shipped 

 on the former sale when prices have declined to the level at which 

 the sale was consummated. In such instances shippers claim that 

 producers have not delivered the hay or that they are unable to get 

 cars for shipment. This practice can not be carried on except when 

 demand is urgent and shipments are moving slowly. 



In the matter of weights, shippers are sometimes guilty of adding 

 a little, often as much as 1,000 pounds, to the actual weights when 

 making their invoices. This is usually done to overcome any loss 

 by handling, etc. If a buyer weighs the hay and makes a claim for 

 the difference in weight or refuses to pay for an amount which his 

 weights indicate was not in the car, the shipper, after a formal re- 

 quest for unloading weights, etc., usually pays or allows the claim. 

 If the buyer does not weigh the hay the shipper is just that much 

 ahead. 



An instance has recently been reported to the Bureau of Markets 

 where the members of a large hay firm doing a track business ad- 

 mitted that they always added 1,000 pounds to the weights furnished 

 by the country shipper when invoicing the hay to their customers. 

 They maintained that this was done to protect them against any 

 mistake that the shipper might have made in weighing. They also 

 maintained that as the weights were guaranteed to within 2 per cent, 

 it was the duty of the buyer to weigh the hay, and if any error was 

 found to make a claim against them for the amount of the shortage. 



There are also several practices on the part of buyers which are 

 considered unfair by the trade generally. In the matter of weights 

 complaints are made that bales are broken in unloading and then not 

 weighed ; that drafts are frequently missed when the hay is weighed 

 one or more bales at a time; and that many cars are weighed in- 

 correctly. 



The most serious charge against the buyers, however, is that of 

 refusing to accept shipments when the market has declined. When 

 shipments are rejected it is usually maintained that the hay is not 

 of the grade bought. Judging from the information at hand the 

 percentage of rejections by buyers does not seem to be any larger than 

 the percentage of cars containing damaged and inferior hay for- 

 warded by shippers. Various dealers estimate that the percentage in 



