24 BULLETIN 978, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



WME ao age ae ee a 1922 
Name of City. Date. 
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE HAY contained m Car -..-.-- 2.2). 
INO Firs ee toe was weighed this day by .--.2.-..--<__....-- mags, Fe and the 
correct weight was found to be as follows: 
meet sae Whole-bales: Gross_- =. 2. =.Ibs: “Tare. =... lbs... -Net-22 2 Ibs 
Number. 
ee ee Broken balesst 2 = <5 552-2 lbs" (Sg So i Ep San “Foes ate nee bac 
Number. : 
Loose hay: .- act, Ae gt ona ee jy Roereieae E lbs. 
Totalnet, weight.-= 2-36 = lbs. 
Size Ob bales: ss ae eee ee Car weighed in ........ draughts. 

Condition. of car was as: follows = 22. 525.322 2 ee eee 
Oireral record NoO#.. 2. ee ee ee eee 5 feeeee 
Official seal ( on Ee OR Se eee Sao Sree ee eee 
Last date on which scales were officially tested ........-.. 
Fic. 7.—Form of official certificate which will provide necessary information upon which to base a claim 
for loss in weight. 



WEIGHING ON RAILROAD TRACK SCALES. 

There are no data available relative to the amount of hay weighed 
on railroad track scales, but such weights are used in some territories 
to a considerable extent. Railroads weigh shipments over their lnes 
in order that proper freight charges may be assessed. 
These track scales are maintained at convenient points which are 
designated as track scale stations and cars to be weighed are switched 
over the scales at these points and the weights obtained. 
OBTAINING THE WEIGHT. 
Methods of weighing the gross and tare differ slightly at d‘fferent 
scales. The usual practice is to pull or push a train of several cars 
over the scales and to stop, as each car comes onto the scale, a suffi- 
cient length of time for the weigher to obtain the weight of the 
car. The car is sometimes uncoupled from the other cars at both 
ends, sometimes at only one end, but the most common practice is to 
stop the car on the scale with the slack taken up so that the coupling 
at either end does not bind with the couplings of the cars attached. 
It is claimed that when the couplings do not bind cars can be 
weighed accurately by this method. The difficulty is that it is fre- 
quently impossible to stop cars so that couplings will be entirely free 
from the influence of the cars attached to them. There-is also the 
danger during the rush of weighing that the car will not be brought 

