MARKETING HAY AT COUNTRY POINTS. 15 
quality of the hay. Investigations conducted by the Bureau of Mar- 
kets have shown that the majority of country shippers find it to be 
good business to pay exactly what any particular grade of hay is 
worth. Consequently, they desire to deal only with producers who 
are honest. In order to make a deal, however, it is necessary for 
shipper and producer to come to an agreement as to the price of the 
hay in question. If the interested parties attempt to agree on the real 
quality or grade the chances are that they will fail to reach a satis- 
factory agreement. Few shippers now attempt to buy hay by grade. 
If they do, they appear to accept the producer's ideas, but they do 
not pay him what that grade is worth if the hay in question is not 
really of the grade the producer thinks it is. 
The more common method is for the shipper to learn all he can 
about the mixture and quality by talking with the producer and in- 
specting the hay in the barn or at the stack and then make an offer 
on the ton basis. By this method there is no chance for argument re- 
garding quality, and the producer can either accept or reject the price 
offered. As the matter stands at present the true grade of hay and 
the market price are determined almost solely by the shipper, and it 
must be admitted that this practice does not work toward bettering 
the marketing of hay at country points. 
Terms regarding haling. — The percentage of hay growers who own 
baling presses is very small in the timothy and clover growing sec- 
tions, where the bulk of the market hay is produced. Consequently, 
when hay is to be marketed, either the producer or the shipper must 
have the hay baled. In some sections the shipper pays for the baling, 
and this may lead to trouble for one or both parties as well as the 
custom baler, depending upon the manner of paying. 
One rather general method is for the shipper to pay the producer, 
who in turn pays the money over to the man doing the baling. By 
this method the presser is really working for the producer even 
though it is the shipper's money that pays for the baling. The pro- 
ducer is supposed to oversee the work in a general way and is re- 
sponsible for the baling of the hay in the proper manner. If the pro- 
ducer merely tells the operator of the press to throw out the worst of it 
but to bale all hay that is not too bad, it frequently happens that too 
much of the bad hay is baled with the good. This causes the shipper 
an endless amount of trouble, especially if he has relied upon the pro- 
ducer to have it properly baled and is not present when the hay is 
loaded into the car. It has been found that many disputes between 
shipper and receiver are due to the fact that the shipper did not see 
the hay put into the car, but trusted the producer to see that the hay 
was baled properly. 
Another common method is for the shipper to do the baling. In 
such cases the press operator is working directly for the shipper. 
