MARKETING HAY THROUGH TERMINAL MARKETS. 25 
ferent. As has been stated, the broker assumes no financial responsi- 
bility for the commodity he handles, but always considers it as the 
property of the shipper. On the other hand, in most instances the 
hay does become the property of the commission merchant for a time. 
In general practice the hay is billed to him either on " open " bill- 
ing, i. e., direct on a straight bill of lading, or on an " order" bill of 
lading. On the open billing the shipper may or may not draw a draft 
against the consignee for a part of the value of the hay. Some ship- 
pers with large financial resources bill most of their hay to commis- 
sion firms whom they consider reliable on open billing and do not 
make a draft against the shipment, but await full payment when the 
car has arrived at the market and has been sold. The advantage of 
this method is that when shipping to near-by markets demurrage or 
storage charges seldom accrue because of the nonarrival of the bill 
of lading, because the straight bill of lading is mailed direct to the 
commission merchant and therefore almost always arrives ahead of 
the shipment. On an " order " bill of lading the shipment is usually 
billed to the shipper's order and notation made to notify the con- 
signee, which in this case would be the commission merchant. 
While bills of lading are generally considered as representing the 
goods and their possession as conferring ownership, certain restric- 
tions placed upon order bills of lading make them more valuable to 
those interested in their use. In the first place, since the shipment 
is billed to the shipper's order the carrier will not release it until 
the original bill of lading, properly indorsed by the shipper, is sur- 
rendered to the carrier's agent at destination. Because of this regula- 
tion this form of billing is especially advantageous to the shipper 
and it has become the practice for hay shippers to bill their hay 
" shipper's order " and to notify the commission firm which they 
desire to handle their hay at the terminal market. When the shipper 
obtains the bill of lading properly signed from the railroad freight 
agent at point of loading he draws a " sight " or " arrival " draft 
against the consignee for about 75 per cent of the value of the ship- 
ment and, attaching it to the bill of lading, places both in his local 
bank to be forwarded to the bank's correspondent or some other bank 
at the place to which the car is billed. The local bank, in many in- 
stances, enters the amount of the draft directly to the shipper's credit 
and he can draw checks against it immediately. 
Banks prefer sight drafts payable to the payee upon presentation 
to those drawn to be paid upon the arrival of the car, and in many 
instances charge interest on the amount advanced from the date of 
deposit until the proceeds of the draft are received. Whether drafts 
are to be drawn at sight or upon arrival is a matter of agreement be- 
tween the shipper and the commission merchant and the practice is 
53884°— 21— Bull. 979 4 
