MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 11 
It very often happens, however, that the shipper does not receive 
the number of cars ordered. If he has ordered four he may receive 
two. When this occurs some of the hay intended for the other cars 
must be loaded into those received, as it is usually impossible to 
persuade the producer to haul the hay back to his barn and deliver 
it at a later date. This circumstance results in loading cars of a 
mixed quality unless all the hay of the various lots is of the same 
quality, which is frequently not the case. Again, the lots of hay 
delivered may be in excess, possibly 10 or 12 bales, of the capacity of 
the car. By the terms of the sale this hay must be accepted by the 
shipper, who, not having place to store it, places it into another car 
being loaded at the same time, but which possibly contains hay of an 
entirely different quality. This accounts for the few bales of clover or 
clover mixed which receivers sometimes find in a carload of timothy. 
Some shippers who do not have regular hay warehouses have small 
storage sheds or barns where they place the few bales of hay of 
inferior quality or of different grade which the farmers deliver 
with their other hay. When enough has accumulated to make a car- 
load it is loaded and shipped to some market where it can be graded 
and sold on its merits. 
As the marketing of hay is conducted at this time, it is part of the 
business of the country shipper to know the quality and grades of hay 
that are desired by buyers in the various markets, and the distant 
buyer certainly has a right to expect the country shipper to know the 
character of hay contained in the cars he is offering for sale. 
The function of the country shipper is to collect into shipping 
quantities the various lots of hay which producers have to sell, and 
to see that they are weighed correctly and classified and loaded so 
that the quality of the hay will be as uniform as possible and of the 
grade specified. If he does not do these things he is not rendering a 
service commensurate with the charges exacted and should not be 
considered as an economical factor in the marketing of hay. 
SALES AGENCIES. 
There are a number of agencies to or through whom the country 
shipper may sell, and the terms of sale vary as the hay is sold to dif- 
ferent buyers, in different sections, or under different market con- 
ditions. The four principal agencies are consumers, wholesalers and 
distributors, track buyers, and terminal markets. These may not 
all be available at the same time, but one or two are always in the 
market and afford practically as continuous a market for hay as ex- 
ists for grain. 
Consumers. 
Sales may be made direct to the consumer. Shippers located in 
sections tributary to large consuming markets can very conveniently 
