28 BULLETIN 978, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
draft the number of drafts need not be shown. All other items are 
of equal importance, whether weighed upon Le wagon, or 
railroad scales. 
TYPES OF SCALES COMPARED. 
It can scarcely be said that any type of scale properly adjusted and 
balanced is more accurate and reliable than any other type of scale. 
The chances for an error, however, are greater when certain types 
of scales are used. When weighing hay in drafts of from 1 to 5 
bales at a time each draft must be weighed very carefully, for the 
reason that a great number of drafts are necessary to weigh the 
amount in a car of hay and an error of only 1 pound on a draft when 
only one bale is being weighed at a time will amount to from 250 to 350 
pounds on a car. If the hay is weighed on wagon scales, where only 
four or five drafts are sufficient to fill a car an error of 10 pounds on 
a load would make a total error of only about 50 pounds on a ear. 
It is therefore apparent that the chances of error decrease as the 
-nuinber of drafts decrease. There are other factors, however, which 
affect the weighing on wagon and railroad scales. Some of these are 
the failure of the weigher to note whether the same persons or ob- 
jects are weighed with both the gross and tare weights on wagon 
scales and the difficulty of obtaining a correct tare weight of cars 
weighed on track scales. 
The convenience or practicability of a certain type of scale may be 
the principal reason for its use. A baler who must carry his scale 
with his baling machinery must use a small platform scale. Dealers 
owning warehouses may also find it more convenient to use platform 
or dormant scales, while farmers or country shippers who own wagon 
scales prefer to use that kind. 
RELIABILITY OF WEIGHMASTER. 
Since the type of scale does not necessarily affect the accuracy of 
the weights, it 1s apparent that the efficiency and reliability of the 
weigher is of great importance. All weighmasters should know 
enough about the mechanism of a scale to keep it in proper adjust- 
ment or at least to know when it is not in proper adjustment. They 
should know how to do the physical act of weighing properly and. 
how to record the weights accurately and systematically. They 
should realize the responsibility of their position and should know 
the loss and trouble any error on their part is likely to occasion. 
PROPER RECORDS. 
Scales may be properly adjusted and weighers may be accurate and 
efficient, but if the weights are not properly recorded and the proper 




