

THE WEIGHING OF MARKET HAY. 19 
possession the hay was when the loss occurred. It is usually cus- 
tomary, and in some cases necessary, for the shipper to present the 
claim for loss against the railroad, or other agency responsible for it, 
and he must have the proper facts to present with the claim in proof 
of its justness if he would be reimbursed. 
The fact that fewer bales were unloaded from a car than were 
loaded into it, together with statements of the loading and unloading 
weights, is the strongest proof of a loss, and the shipper is entitled to, 
and should have, together with an official weight certificate, an 
official statement as to the condition of the car and the number of 
whole and broken bales or amount of loose hay unloaded from it. 
In a number of large markets it is not now possible to give such a 
statement, because no record is kept of the number of bales unloaded 
from the cars. 
NUMBER OF DRAFTS SHOULD BE RECORDED. 
A record of the number of drafts weighed from each car should 
also be furnished the chief weighmaster and all drafts from any car- 
load should be weighed upon the same scale. An instance was noted 
recently in a large market which issues official certificates, of a claim 
by a shipper of a loss of about 9,000 pounds on one car of hay shipped 
to that market. An investigation disclosed the fact that the hay was 
weighed over two different scales and there seemed to be a strong 
probability that one draft was not weighed at all. Conditions making 
such practices possible should be eliminated, and it is thought that 
they could be eliminated by proper policing and weighing regu- 
lations. 
THE WEIGHT CERTIFICATE. 
Because of the difference in the weighing practices at the different 
markets the form and contents of the official weight certificates are 
not uniform. In most instances, however, the official certificates now 
in use give only the car initial and number and the total net weight 
of the hay (fig. 6). 
The illustrations on pages 20 to 23 are copies of certificates used 
in several of the important markets. The reader will note that sev- 
eral do not state the number of bales weighed. Only one provides for 
the weight of the loose hay, and none of them contain all the infor- 
mation necessary for the preparation of a claim for a loss or shortage 
in weight. 
Official certificates would be made of more value to those interested 
in them if more detailed information were given and if items which 
would better identify the hay were added. 
