8 
BULLETIN 979, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
1 
Another factor entering into the cost of warehousing hay is the 
"transit privilege." Some railroads allow dealers owning ware- 
houses situated on their lines the privilege of unloading hay into 
their warehouses, of grading it, storing for a period not exceeding 
6 months, reloading 
and rebilling it upon 
the through rate. 
While the stop-off 
charge is from $2 to 
$3 per car, this is 
more than covered 
in most instances by 
the difference be- 
tween the through 
rate and the combi- 
nation of local rates 
which would apply 
if the hay were 
shipped only to the 
warehouse, and after 
a time reloaded and 
shipped to a con- 
suming market. 
Many roads do not 
allow transit privi- 
leges, however, 
which is probably 
one of the reasons 
that practically no 
hay warehouses are 
in operation in some 
sections' of the 
country. 
"VY h i 1 e no com- 
plete data are avail- 
able as to the costs 
of marketing hay 
through a ware- 
house, studies and 
observations made 
indicate that on an 
average hay that has been classified and graded by being handled 
through a well-equipped warehouse would have to sell about $1 
above the price of hay loaded directly into the car. It is asserted 
that while buyers are frequently dissatisfied with hay that is not of 
Fig. 3. — One of the gates in distributing chutes. When 
the pieces numbered 1 are in the position indicated the 
bale is stopped and its weight opens a trap door in the 
bottom of the chute. This allows the bale to drop into 
another chute which delivers it to the floor below. 
When the pieces numbered 1 are pulled down by the 
levers shown in Fig. 2 the bale shoots over the trap 
door onto this floor. 
