MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 17 
tions that may arise if a country shipper relies entirely upon one 
marketing agency for the disposal of all his hay. 
Track buyers usually distribute their hay through brokers or sales- 
men in consuming territories and seldom go to large markets except 
to dispose of a surplus. They usually do not operate warehouses but 
ship direct from country shippers' tracks or warehouses. When such 
dealers operate warehouses and handle hay through their warehouses 
direct from producer or from other country shippers, upon a transit 
privilege, they are in most sections termed wholesalers. The term 
track buyer is applied usually only to those who handle or bill the 
hay direct from loading track to destination. 
Terminal, Markets. 
Another agency which is available to the country shipper in the 
marketing of his hay is the terminal market, and it is available when 
the others are not. While the prices obtained for hay shipped to 
terminal markets during periods when there is a demand from no 
other source may not be all that could be desired, these markets pro- 
vide places for marketing surpluses. 
There are no large public storage warehouses in any of the large 
central western markets but private storage space is sufficient to 
accommodate a considerable amount when prices are such that the 
owners consider it a good business proposition to store their hay. 
The railroads provide warehouses in several of the eastern markets, 
including New York and Boston. Many terminal markets also have 
excellent distributing facilities, being located at railroad centers 
which provide transportation at advantageous rates to large consum- 
ing areas. These markets may have but. a small local demand and 
practically no storage but still handle a large amount of hay. Among 
such distributing markets are Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, Chi- 
cago, Memphis, and Cincinnati. 
Country shippers who desire to ship to terminal markets advan- 
tageously must become familiar with practices and conditions pre- 
vailing at such markets. Among these the more important are the 
methods of weighing, of inspection and grading, the amount and 
kind of storage available, and the methods of rebilling cars. The 
last mentioned is important because it enables the shipper to know 
how to bill his cars to a market in such a way as to take advantage 
of the best rebilling privileges. 
Many country shippers avoid shipping to terminal markets because 
of their lack of knowledge concerning the various methods of hand- 
ling hay and because such shipments usually result in unsatisfactory 
price returns. The various practices prevailing at the principal 
markets will be discussed in another part of this bulletin. 
53884°— 21— Bull. 979 3 
