32 
BULLETIN 979, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
The first bids made are usually below the price asked and are then 
raised (unless the market is very weak) to meet the offer of the 
seller, which is frequently reduced slightly to effect a sale. If 
the bids and offers do not reach the same amount no sale is effected. 
Buyers in most cases do not depend entirely upon the grade certificate 
as to the character of the hay but visit the receiving yards and inspect 
the hav before the market opens. 
The advantage of this method is that it establishes a cash market 
price for each day upon which bids to country shippers and offers 
for shipment may be based. It also assures the country shipper that 
his hay has been offered in an open market and sold to the highest 
bidder. The principal difficulty arises when the buyer maintains that 
Fig. 4. — Selling hay at the car door. 
the hay is not all of the same quality and demands a reduction or 
elects to take it at the price of the lower grade. 
Sales at the Car Door. 
In a number of markets, including Chicago. St. Louis, and Minne- 
apolis, trading is done in the railroad yards where the cars have been 
placed for sale. The doors of the car are opened and seller and buyer 
conclude the sale of the hay at the car door. Since only the bales at 
the door of the car can be seen, the buyer usually makes the purchase 
on the condition that all the hay is of the grade showing at the door. 
If the shipper has loaded the car uniformly and the buyer is fair, 
this method of sale is satisfactory, although it is sometimes difficult to 
determine the actual quality of the hay by examining only the ends 
of a few bales (fig. 4). 
