2 BULLETIN 980, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



fit of all agencies engaged in the production and marketing of hay. 

 These agencies are (1) the producer, (2) the producer shipper, (3) 

 the country shipper, (4) the track buyer, (5) the commission man, 

 (6) the terminal wholesaler and shipper, (7) the broker, (8) the dis- 

 tributor (wholesale and retail), and (9) the consumer of market hay. 

 The endeavor is to present this important marketing factor in such 

 a light that each agency engaged in the hay business will under- 

 stand some of the problems that confront other agencies. Such an 

 understanding should reveal the necessity for a better and more 

 uniform inspection of hay and should induce all agencies to do their 

 part in bringing about this much-needed change, to the benefit of all. 



GRADES AND INSPECTION SERVICE. 



HOW GRADES WERE FORMED. 



The first grades formulated for hay were what might be termed 

 " local " grades ; that is, they were used by a few men in one market 

 and were perhaps very different from the " local " grades used in 

 other markets to which the same kinds of hay were shipped. Later, 

 terminal-market hay dealers formed business associations such as 

 city hay dealers' associations, exchanges, and boards of trade, which 

 had trade rules governing the method of inspecting, buying, and 

 selling of hay by its members. The grades used were formulated 

 by the members or were grades used by other organizations in other 

 markets. • 



The grades in most general use are those of the National Hay 

 Association. Several of the States have what are known as State 

 grades for hay, and in a few instances the grades of the National 

 Hay Association have been adopted by the States. 



" Local " grades still exist in many markets. Sometimes they are 

 used as " official " grades for a specified market and sometimes they 

 are used personally by members of the association to which the hay 

 dealers belong in spite of the fact that such members are expected 

 to adhere strictly to the rules of their association and use the " offi- 

 cial " grades only. 



It is very significant that in the formulation of grades the pro- 

 ducer, who has all of the responsibility, the work and the worry 

 of seeding, growing, and making of succulent forage into marketable 

 hay is scarcely considered, much less consulted, when grades for hay 

 are being formulated, although the value of his total crop stands 

 second among agricultural crops and is outranked only by the great 

 corn crop. 



The requirements of grades can not be thoroughly understood 

 unless the desires of the principal agencies be known. There are 

 at least three agencies engaged in the marketing of hay whose 

 motives or wishes, respecting grades, are opposed to one another. 



