MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 37 



buyers and sellers. So far as the transactions between the dealers at 

 the warehouses are concerned the hay is not sold by grade, but the 

 buyer determines whether or not it is of the grade desired. Grades 

 are usually applied only to hay which has been bought to " arrive " 

 as of a certain grade specified. 



There are three advantages in selling from warehouses. Sales may 

 be conducted regardless of weather conditions, dealers may see the 

 exact character of the hay offered, and when receipts are in excess of 

 the demand the hay may be left in storage at a reasonable cost and 

 not forced upon a market already overloaded. This method is con- 

 fined almost entirely to places where practically all the hay is con- 

 sumed in the market, and is not considered economical in markets 

 where most of the hay is reshipped and reconsigned to consuming 

 sections, because the costs of unloading and reloading outweigh the 

 advantages. 



There is no question but that the possession of large storage space 

 stabilizes a market. Some shippers maintain that terminal dealers 

 are opposed to warehouses because they tend to eliminate the wide 

 fluctuations in hay prices whereby speculation at the expense of the 

 country shipper becomes possible. It is thought, however, that the 

 cost of operation under present trade practices is the principal reason 

 that they are not maintained in distributing markets. 



Office Sales. 



When for any reason hay offered for sale by any of the methods 

 already described is not sold during the trading period, it is fre- 

 quently sold later. The dealer having the hay for sale may know of 

 some buyer who was not at the market and may visit him at his place 

 of business or call him by telephone and sell the car to him. If no 

 local buyer can be found, the seller may wire several out-of-town 

 buyers and sell the hay to one of them. The terms of such sales are 

 usually the same as those applied to sales on the open market except 

 that when the buyer has not seen the hay its character is fully 

 described during the transaction. 



Meeits of Various Methods of Sales. 



It is impossible to designate any one of the methods named as the 

 best. Some have decided advantages over others but each one has 

 been adopted in the particular market in which it is used because 

 dealers think it is best suited to the facilities of that market. 



Under present conditions and practices it seems that the ware- 

 house method is best in those markets Avhere practically all the hay 

 is used locally and can be hauled by wagon or motor truck direct 

 from the warehouse. In large distributing markets the plug method 

 seems most satisfactory when the proper facilities are available. 



