MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 39 



trading on the various markets, therefore outside buyers or shippers 

 seldom become a factor in the markets. 



Shippers depend upon orders from consuming sections for their 

 business. When many orders are received the shippers are active 

 buyers in the market, and when no orders are received they remain 

 out of the market unless they buy to store or in anticipation of 

 orders. Shippers frequently buy hay when they have no orders for 

 it, if in their opinion it is good business to do so, and then offer 

 the hay for sale by wire or letter. If the orders received are not 

 equal to the hay bought it frequently is resold upon the market on 

 the succeeding days. 



Obtaining Orders. 



The shipper at the terminal market obtains his orders by the same 

 methods and through the same agencies as does the country shipper, 

 namely, by wire, by letter, through brokers, and through traveling 

 salesmen. These agencies have already been fully described. 



Terms of Sale. 



The acceptance of an order by a shipper constitutes a sale for 

 him, and the terms are almost always included in the confirmation 'of 

 sale, which is usually sent by wire or mail immediately upon receipt 

 of an order if it is accepted. 



The items usually included in the terms of sale are : Quantity, 

 kind of hay, time of shipment, and terms of settlement. 



QUANTITY SOLD. 



The quantity sold is usually expressed only in carloads, but the 

 number of tons is sometimes also mentioned. Certain trade rules 

 provide that the number of bales shall also be stated, but this is 

 seldom done because it is usually impossible for a shipper to tell 

 how many bales will be contained in the car he buys. It is also 

 frequently impracticable to state the number of tons. 



CHARACTER OF HAY SOLD. 



The most difficult thing to state satisfactorily in the confirmation 

 of sale is the character of hay sold. Numerical grades for hay have 

 been adopted in practically all hay markets, and generalty there is 

 a fairly good understanding in the terminal markets as to the char- 

 acter of the hay represented by the grade designation. In the con- 

 suming sections, however, local conditions seem to be a factor in- 

 fluencing the interpretation of the grades, so that the ideas of buyers 

 as to the quality represented by certain grades vary in the different 



