10 BULLETIN 979, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
is almost impossible to classify and grade this kind of hay even 
through a warehouse. Improper storage may also cause considerable 
difficulty and does not contribute to uniform loading. Hay stored 
in barns which are out of repair is frequently damaged from the 
weather. A leak in the roof may cause a damaged spot several feet 
in diameter and several feet deep in the mow. Although the baler 
may not intend to mix this damaged hay with the good, part of the 
bales are likely to contain some of the damaged hay and if these 
bales are not separated from the others they will probably cause 
a discount on the price of the whole carload. Similar troubles may 
be experienced when hay is baled from a stack from which all 
weather-damaged hay has not been taken before baling. Dam- 
aged hay left on the sides of the stack is sure to appear in some of 
the bales, so that the quality of the lot will not be uniform. 
The quality of a car of hay may not be uniform because of conditions 
of handling. Several different lots may be loaded into the same car. 
Where country shippers have loading sidings but no warehouses, the 
hay is generally loaded into the cars just as it is delivered by the pro- 
ducer. If the shipper or his representative is present to see that the 
hay delivered corresponds in quality to the grade bought he may sort 
out the badly damaged bales and refuse to take them. Frequently, 
however, the shipper has bought the hay by the lot at a specified price 
and the producer insists on delivering without regard to variation in 
quality. If enough hay is being delivered to load several cars at a 
time the shipper may be able to classify the hay and load the different 
grades into different cars, provided he can get the cars as needed. 
Some shippers depend upon producers to load their own hay, and 
this practice often causes considerable difficulty. Because of their 
lack of opportunity to familiarize themselves with the grades of 
market hay, producers usually do not comprehend the need for load- 
ing cars exclusively with hay of a certain grade or mixture. They 
usually assume that the best grade of hay is the kind relished by their 
own stock, but grades based principally upon color and mixture are 
used as the basis of quality by buyers and receivers. Producers, there- 
fore, can not be expected to classify and load their hay according to 
the grades desired by a buyer in some section of the country the 
requirements of which they have had no opportunity to learn. 
Ability to obtain cars as needed is one of the factors in uniform 
loading. The shipper may order two or more cars to be placed at his 
loading point and may receive assurance from the railroad agent that 
they will be there on a certain elate. He therefore arranges with the 
farmers from whom he has bought lots of hay to begin delivery on 
that date. The short time allowed by railroads in which to load cars 
makes it necessary to begin loading promptly after the cars are placed. 
When hay must be hauled some distance, the shipper frequently ar- 
ranges to have some of it on hand when the cars arrive. 
