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., 
