14 BULLETIN 978, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TESTING AND BALANCING THE SCALE. 
The same care is necessary in testing and balancing the wagon 
scale as with the portable or dormant platform scale. Scales should 
be examined and tested frequently by an experienced scale man and 
they should also be kept in good repair and in balance. When scales 
are under cover and in a dry place they do not require balancing so 
frequently as when situated in the open, but considerable soil or trash 
may be carried upon them, especially when roads are in bad condi- 
tion. At such times it is necessary to balance them several times a 
day, whereas in dry weather probably once each day would be suffi- 
cient. Scales located in the open must be balanced more frequently, 
especially in rainy weather, as they will absorb several pounds of 
moisture during a shower and will lose it again quickly when the sun 
shines upon them. 
WEIGHING THE DRAFT. 
To obtain the correct weight of a draft requires care and accu- 
racy on the part of the weigher. In weighing hay, especially loose 
hay, the wagon must be entirely on the scale and the load must not 
be im contact with the sides of the scale house or beam box. Care 
must be taken that the presence of the team does not influence the 
weight. If a motor truck is used, it should be brought to rest in 
proper position on the scale, and if the running of the motor disturbs 
the weighing it should be stopped (fig. 5). 
There should be a fixed rule as to whether the driver should be 
weighed with the load, but as a general practice it is better always 
to weigh the load without the driver or any other objects on it or 
on the empty wagon when the tare weight is taken. This will prevent 
any mistakes caused by the weigher forgetting what was weighed 
on or off the load. Numbers of instances have been found of errors 
- caused by allowing loads to be weighed on which were farm imple- 
ments, bags of grain, or other articles which were not on the truck | 
or wagon when the tare weight was obtained. 
TABULATING THE WEIGHTS. 
It is as important that the weights be recorded accurately as that 
the hay be weighed correctly. At country loading points it is gen- 
erally impossible to have a sworn weigher in charge of the scales, 
and the weighing is usually done by the owner of the scales or by one 
of his employees. The qualifications of the weighers in such instances 
are but ordinary intelligence, the ability to do the physical act of 
weighing, to read the amount indicated on the beam or by the weights, 
and to write the amount upon a scale ticket or book. 
In many instances but little system is used in recording the weights 
and the amounts of the gross, tare, and net weight are written upon 
