14: BULLETIN 980, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the quality of hay whereby an honest settlement could be made be- 
tween receiver and shipper. TTith a strictly unbiased inspection 
service the universal use of certificates of grade would obviously tend 
to place the marketing of hay on a good business foundation. 
However, in many markets " in " certificates are used only occasion- 
ally at the present time. Some markets allow the inspection of hay 
only upon the request of the receiver, and under certain conditions 
inspection certificates are used unfairly. When a market has a good 
demand for hay and the prices are advancing from day to day the 
hay bought " to arrive " is accepted as invoiced without giving atten- 
tion to the grade, unless it is obviously of such a quality that notwith- 
standing the advancing market it will show a loss. 
For example, hay bought to be No. 2 timothy or better will often 
be accepted on contract at contract price, even if it actually grades 
No. 3. Since with the advancing market the dealer has a profit any- 
way, he does not have the hay graded but accepts it as of the grade 
bought. But if the market has declined it is customary to have an 
official inspection made and if the hay is not of the grade bought it 
is rejected or the shipper is notified of the discount at which it will 
be accepted. Eeceivers say that they are obliged to call for inspec- 
tion on a declining market because they are obliged to protect them- 
selves and accept only the grade contracted for. They claim that 
when the market is advancing they pay the shipper more than the 
hay is really worth and therefore the shipper should not complain 
against inspection on a declining market. 
USE OF "OUT" CERTIFICATES. 
Except in rare instances, outbound shipments are not now graded. 
It is claimed by some dealers who do a shipping business from the 
distributing markets that there is at present such a difference of 
opinion among consumers and dealers located in consuming terri- 
tories as to what constitutes the qualifications for the different grades 
that it would be impossible to sell hay on the same grades on which 
it is bought in these distributing markets. In other words, this 
means that dealers will not use an outbound inspection certificate, 
especially for hay shipped into the South. If the dealers will not 
reconsign hay according to an official inspection it is evidently be- 
cause they are not willing to use the grade as determined by their 
own inspector. There is evidence that grades are sometimes raised 
on hay shipped into consuming territories, especially on shipments 
into the South. This is one reason why outbound inspection certifi- 
cates are not in general use to-day. 
It has been found that in some instances if the southern receiver 
insists on an outbound certificate, the price first quoted will be 
raised at least S2 or more per ton over the price quoted when no 
certificate was to be sent. Many dealers in consuming territories 
know present grades of hay. but are not able to obtain the kind of 
