18 BULLETIN 978, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
b] 
The rules of the various exchanges usually provide that weighers 
at private warehouses may be changed from time to time at the 
option of the chief weighmaster. If he is an employee of the ware- 
house owner, he may be dismissed as an official weigher at any time 
that his services are not satisfactory to the chief inspector or in 
compliance with the rules and regulations of the weighing depart- 
ment or the exchange, but no regular system of rotation of weighers 
at warehouses has been reported at this time. 
OBTAINING THE TOTAL WEIGHTS. 
After all the drafts have been weighed the amounts of the various 
drafts are totaled. This work is done by one or more of several 
agencies, which vary at the different markets. In some instances 
the weights are totaled by the weigher, in others by the supervisor, or 
the figures denoting the amount of the various drafts may be sent 
to the office of the chief weighmaster, where all clerical work will 
be done. 
At this point, investigations show, most of the systems of official 
weighing are weak. Complete information necessary for preparing 
an official weight certificate which would be fair to all parties con- 
cerned is frequently not furnished to the office of the chief weigh- 
master. 
NUMBER OF BALES UNLOADED FREQUENTLY NOT GIVEN. 
The item most frequently omitted is that stating the number of 
whole bales unloaded and the number of bales from which the wire 
may have been broken, or the amount of loose hay, if any (fig. 8). 
The rules of most markets provide that the weighing charges 
shall be paid by the shipper, and it would seem therefore that the 
service was performed for his protection as well as for the protec- 
tion of the buyer. There are several ways in which losses in weight 
may accrue between the time the hay is loaded into the car and when 
it arrives at its destination, but with the exception of shrinkage by 
loss of moisture or shattering all losses will be indicated by the differ- 
ence between the number of bales loaded into the car at point of ship- 
ment and the number received at destination. It has happened that hay 
has been stolen from cars at point of shipment, en route, or while in the 
railroad yards at destination. The handling of the cars in switch- 
ing or shipping has jarred open the doors and allowed some hay to 
fall out before the fact was noted and the door closed. Cars have 
been switched from unloading yards before all the hay has been 
taken out. Parts of carloads have been destroyed by fire and dam- 
aged by water during the process of unloading. The lability for 
such loss or damage is upon those responsible for it or in whose 


