50 BULLETIN 9*79, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
wholesalers and retailers in consuming- sections are coincident with 
sales by shippers in the producing sections and at the various mar- 
kets, no further explanations will be needed concerning these trans- 
actions. 
LOCATION AND PREFERENCES OF CONSUMING TERRITORIES. 
Taking the country as a whole, only a small percentage of the 
hay produced, estimated at from 15 to 20 per cent, is shipped out of 
the county in which it is raised, thus leaving 80 to 85 per cent to be 
consumed locally. Certain well-defined areas, however, do not pro- 
duce sufficient hay for their requirements and these are known as 
consuming territories. Roughly defined they are as follows : The New 
England dairying sections; the mining sections of Pennsjdvania, 
Michigan, and Wisconsin ; the section south of the Ohio and Potomac 
Rivers and east of the Mississippi; certain sections of Louisiana. 
Texas, and New Mexico; and nonproducing sections west of the 
Rocky Mountains. 
Timothy and light clover mixed hay are preferred and constitute 
the bulk of the hay handled east of the Mississippi River. Alfalfa 
and prairie are most extensively used west of the river. A good 
deal of alfalfa is beginning to be used in southern and southeastern 
sections also. 
Timothy hay in general is preferred in markets where the demand 
is from draymen, horse liveries, etc. Clover and alfalfa meet the 
demand from dairymen; prairie, while used in place of timothy to 
some extent, is most extensively used for feeding stock which is 
being carried through the winter. While timothy, clover, alfalfa, 
and prairie are considered the principal commercial hays, native 
hays are marketed to some extent in the territories in which they are 
grown. In the South, peanut hay, peavine hay, Johnson grass. 
Bermuda, and lespedeza hay are grown and marketed locally, but 
are not shipped to any very distant markets. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
The bulk of the hay marketed in consuming sections is bought 
from the county shipper or shipper in terminal markets, direct or 
through a broker, b}< wholesalers or retailers located in the consum- 
ing sections. Wholesalers usually have storage for several cars of 
hay and unload most of it upon arrival. It is then sold in whole or 
split carloads to consumers and retailers in the same or surrounding 
markets. Carload orders to wholesalers are usually filled if possible 
by diverting or reconsigning hay which is en route or which has 
been ordered by the wholesaler while the hay unloaded in the ware- 
house is generally used for filling split-car orders, i. e.. orders for 
one carload composed possibly of grain, feed, and hay. Split-car 
