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RADE SONDITIONS ABROA AD A IN Los
; “WASHI NGTON-
GOVERNMENT ? PRINTING OFFICE

U.3, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR
BUREAU OF MANUFACTURES

A. H. BALDWIN, Chief

SPECIAL AGENTS SERIES—No. 58

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON

A STUDY OF PRESENT WASTEFUL METHODS AND
CERTAIN SUGGESTIONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT

By

JOHN M. CARSON

i
Commercial Agent of the Department of Commerce and Labor

TRANSMITTED TO CONGRESS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE
ACT OF MARCH 4, 1911, AUTHORIZING INVESTIGATIONS OF
TRADE CONDITIONS ABROAD AND IN THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1912

FEO 1a) bya

LETTER OF SUBMITTAL,

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND Lazor,
Bureau or MANUFACTURES,
Washington, June 21, 1912.

ak I have the honor to submit herewith a report by Commercial
Agent John M. Carson on the packing and marketing of cotton. For
years criticism has been made of the condition in which American
cotton reaches foreign markets, and numerous efforts have been made
to effect the much-needed changes in methods of handling it. Mr.
Carson, in his report, sets forth the various factors involved and sug-
gests a solution of the problem, which is of vital concern to everyone
connected with the cotton industry. The Bureau issues this bulletin
mainly as suggestive of the great need for improved methods, and
ithe new system proposed by Mr. Carson is intended chiefly as a
tentative basis only for further discussion by those interests most
concerned.

Respectfully, A. H. Batpwin,
Chief of Bureau.
To Hon. Cuartzs Nace,
Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

-

wes *p ah Sak

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

PRESENT METHODS.

Measured in dollars and cents, cotton is the most valuable of the
agricultural products of the United States, with the single exception
of corn. Cotton cultivation is confined to 18 States, including Ari-
zona, California, Kansas, Kentucky, and New Mexico, the output of
which five States is about 70,000 bales per annum. Corn is pro-
_ duced in all of the States. Both crops have reached vast propor-
tions in quantity and value and both are progressive. The corn crop
‘ of 1911 aggregated 2,513,488,000 bushels, and the farm value is placed
at $1,565,258,000. The cotton crop of last year (1911) aggregated
16,250,276 500-pound bales, the total value of which is $1,000,000,000
and including the seed, $1,200,000,000. The annual production of
wheat is 650,000,000 bushels and its farm value, roundly, $600,000,000.
These three are our leading agricultural products and have supreme
importance in the domestic economics and in the industrial enter-
prises of the country. The two food products mentioned are in the
main consumed at home, only a little over 2 per cent of the corn crop
entering into export and about 13 per cent of the wheat, while 65
_ per cent of the lint cotton produced is sold in foreign countries.
These figures are presented to show the great value of the crops
named and their relative importance in the country’s commerce, to
contrast the methods of preparing each for market, and especially
to’ give illustration and emphasis to the antiquated and wasteful
system that obtains in the preparation and transportation of Ameri-
can cotton.

COTTON COMPARED WITH OTHER PRODUCTS.

Corn, wheat, hay, sugar, tobacco, and all other products of the farm
are carefully and systematically prepared, inspected, graded, and
_certified in accordance with established rules based upon sound, up-
to-date business methods, and are so wrapped and covered as to
insure against damage from frequent and rough handling, the vicissi-
tudes of the weather, and loss from mutilation and pilferings. The
care devoted to the preparation for and the transportation of these
commodities to market is incidental to intelligent, progressive, and
economical methods; but behind these is the powerful incentive that
is aroused by very active competition, an incentive that is in part
lacking in the case of cotton. ‘The percentages of export of the sev-
eral products under consideration suggest a strong reason for the
inertia exhibited on the part of those engaged in the cultivation and
handling of the American cotton crop. Civilized nations must have
cotton to supply the necessities of their people and to meet the needs

5

6 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

of their industries. ‘The world’s demands are measured by 20,000,000
bales of 500 pounds each annually, and the natural increase steadily
advances at the rate of 400,000 bales per annum, keeping pace with
the world’s material and moral advancement.

The United States furnishes approximately 75 per cent of the
world’s requirements and must necessarily continue in that relation,
for the simple reason that no individual country or combination of
countries can change or prevent natural conditions that furnish the
United States with the advantages and facilities essential to the suc-
cessful growth of cotton required in the manufacture of fabrics to
meet cosmopolitan needs and habits. In these circumstances it is
apparent that all who want must come to the United States for cotton,
and necessity compels them to accept the product in such form as it
-may be presented. If the spinners of Europe could obtain cotton
elsewhere in needed quantity and quality, they would not come to the
United States and accept the unsightly and antiquated package with
its wastefulness and loss, its fruitful sources for exasperating con-
tentions, and liability to expensive litigation.

INADEQUATE AND INSUFFICIENT COVERING.

No commodity that enters into the domestic or foreign trade of
any country is so carelessly prepared and so inadequately covered as
American cotton. In the world’s markets it is prized for its inherent
qualities and execrated for the slovenly manner in which it is pre-
sented, and this condition is universally admitted by those who culti-
vate it, as well as by those who are responsible for its preparation
and transportation. We have in cotton a valuable commodity, the
growth of which is peculiar to the southern section of the United
States, and the possession of which is essential to the industrial and
physical wants of every civilized people; and although the demand
for it is constant and imperative, aggregating in value $1,000,000,000,
it receives less care than commodities of least value in the category,
of commerce. The importance of cotton to the industries of this
country need not be recounted, but it is pertinent to recite the figures
that describe its importance to the nation.

COTTON A LEADING FACTOR IN FOREIGN TRADE.

In the calendar year 1911 cotton contributed $517,000,000 to the
volume of our foreign trade, to which should be added $42,000,000
for cottonseed products. In that year the value of animals, bread-
stuffs of every description, meat and dairy products, tobacco, fruits
and nuts (these several items including the principal farm products
entering into foreign commerce) aggregated $390,572,616. Iron
and steel and their manufactures constitute another large and valu-
able group in our foreign trade, $250,000,000 worth having been
sent abroad last year. ‘The excess of exports over imports in 1911
was $559,459,516, that sum constituting the so-called balance of
trade. Combining the two groups above named gives an aggregate
of $640,000,000 in round numbers, which is about $81,000,000 greater
than the balance of trade. The cotton exported brought to the-
United States in exchange $559,000,000, a sum about equal to the

ae

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. if

balance of trade, and without which there would have been a balance
on the foreign side of the national ledger.

EXTENT AND VALUE OF THE COTTON CROP.

In connection with the matters that will be discussed in this re-
port the reproduction of a paragraph from Census Bulletin No. 114,
recently issued, and which is a summary of the report on the produc-
tion of cotton for the year 1911, will be helpful:

The quantity of cotton reported for the crop of 1911, with linters included
and round bales counted as half bales, is 16,109,349 running bales and is the
largest crop which the United States has ever produced. Expressed in gross
500-pound bales, the crop amounted to 16,250,276 bales, exceeding that of 1910
by 4,244,588 bales, or 35.4 per cent; that of 1909 by 5,934,894 bales, or 57.5
per cent; and that of 1904, the largest previous crop, by 2,570,322 bales, or
18.8 per cent. The average annual production of cotton for the five years,
1899 to 1903, was 10,055,003 bales, and for the five years 1907 to 1911, 12,706,823
bales, an increase of 2,651,820 bales, or 26.4 per cent. Some idea of the possi-
bilities of cotton production in the United States can be gathered from the fact
that these figures represented in 1911 the production of an area which is only

--about one-eleventh of the total area of the counties from which cotton ginned

was returned.

Sea island cotton contributed less than 1 per cent to the crop
of 1911. The quantity of sea island produced was 119,293 bales,
which is the largest quantity for a number of years. The average
price of South Carolina sea island in 1911 was 23.73 cents; for that
grown in Georgia and Florida, 20.41. The falling off in the average
price of South Carolina is due to the comparatively low grade result-
ing from a severe storm early in the season, which damaged the crop.
The average price of Egyptian cotton at Boston for the six months
ended with March, 1912, was 18.75 cents. The average price of up-
land cotton ranged from 8.20 in 1902 to 14.69 in 1910. For the crop
of 1911 the average was 9.69 cents.

A commodity of such enormous value to the industries of the
country and of such paramount importance in the maintenance of
the national credit in the settlement of international balances, surely
should be handled and safeguarded in consideration of its great
merit and value, and in accordance with the advanced methods that
insure increased efficiency in production and the fullest measure of
economy in the preparation and conveyance of products to market.
Cotton is the only important commodity which has resisted the

rogress of the age and which continues to enter the market places
in the form and garb of days prior to the Civil War. This condition
is generally recognized and universally deplored. Efforts have been
made by individuals, by associations, and by State governments to
bring about the much-desired change, but these have not been at-
tended with even a small measure of success. The cultivation and
marketing of cotton concern so many persons, involve so many inter-
ests, and extend over so vast an area that the radical change de-
manded in present methods is perhaps beyond the power of individual
effort or community of such effort to accomplish. The vastness of
the industry, its supreme importance, its great intrinsic value, the
opportunities that are offered to speculators, and the large profits

8 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

that accrue to agencies that intervene between the ginnery and the
spinning mill combine to discourage and frustrate efforts on the part
of private enterprise to bring about a reform. The existence and
strength of these adverse conditions are recognized by all who are
engaged in handling American cotton, notwithstanding which the
admission is general that the inauguration of remedial measures is
demanded in the interest of the producer, who is deprived of the
reward to which his toil entitles him; the spinner, whose legitimate
profits are menaced by excessive cost and unnecessary expense; and
the consumer, who is obliged to pay a price for the fabric based upon
extraneous charges incidental to the unbusinesslike and wasteful
system in vogue.

HANDLING FROM FARM TO MILL,

Personal inspection of the methods of handling American cotton
between the farm and the mill can not fail to startle the business
man who knows the importance and value of economy in production
and whose activities are directed by systems evolved from experience
and perfected by the achievements of science and the general enlight-
enment of the age. These methods are maintained, not because mod-
ern and economical agencies are unavailable, but partly because of

indifference and partly because of opposition on the part of those

who profit by present conditions. The inadequate baling of the
product is not an irremedial condition but an incidental feature of
the present system. Cotton can be completely covered at the ginnery
and compressed to any desirable density. Brief recital of the first

handling of cotton—that is, its conveyance from the farm to the gin- —

nery and subsequently to the compress—will give an idea of the anti-
quated, dilatory, and expensive methods that obtain.

The farmer or planter hauls his seed cotton from the farm to the
ginnery. When ginned the lint is baled by the ginner, who fur-
nishes bagging and ties, for which the average charge is $1. The
ginning and baling being included in one charge, naturally the ginner
uses the cheapest covering obtainable, regardless of appearance or
sufficiency. The lint cotton is compressed into a package known
as the plantation or flat bale. Jute bagging, much of which has been

previously used, sugar bags that likewise have had previous service, .

and any other cheap material that can be readily obtained are em-
ployed by the ginner. From 1,500 pounds of seed cotton there will
be a yield of about 500 pounds of lint. The farmer may sell the seed
at current prices, which in recent years have averaged perhaps $23
per gross ton. The lint cotton may be sold to the ginner or be
removed by the farmer. Usually it is taken to the nearest city or
town and sold to merchants and buyers for local and other mills.
It is at this point that mutilation and spoliation of the bale begin.
Those to whom the cotton is offered inspect a sample to determine
its quality. Each sample pulled weighs from one-half to 1 pound,
and two or three holes may be cut and as many samples pulled before
the cotton is sold by the farmer. If purchased by a merchant for
future sale, or a buyer for immediate delivery the cotton is sent to a
warehouse or shed, and in absence of these means of protection it is
piled on the street adjacent to the business house of the purchaser.

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 9
PULLING OF SAMPLES.

The merchant, who as a rule purchases for future sale, retains a
liberal sample, which is given a mark or number corresponding to
that previously attached to the bale, and which may be divided into
several samples to accommodate prospective buyers. The bulk of the
cotton is sent to the compress for recompression, and if not previously
sold for delivery is stored at the compress at fixed charges for ware-
housing, insurance, etc., the minimum charge being for one month.
The warehouse facilities are very limited and therefore the bulk of
the cotton awaiting sale and delivery is massed on the streets in
so-called cotton districts, in inclosed areas destitute of covering, on
platforms at railroad stations and steamship terminals, some of which
are covered in whole or part by a roof but none of which is inclosed,
so that the property is without proper protection. Recompression
does not insure the bale not sold for delivery against further sam
pling, with resultant damage to the covering and loss of cotton.

The custom of pulling samples is strongly intrenched, first, because
of long usage; and second, because it is highly profitable to merchants
and factors. Its continuance is naturally desired by those benefited.
The buyer at points distant from production regards it with favor
because the sample furnished assists him in determining the quality
of the cotton or in confirming the judgment of his agent. The mer-
chant and factor and other intermediaries favor it because each
sample pulled has intrinsic value. The aggregation of these samples
at the close of the season forms a considerable portion of a bulk esti-
mated at 100,000 bales. This has become known as the “city crop,”
end its average annual value is placed at $4,000,000. The income to
individual middlemen from sales of samples varies according to the
number of bales passed upon and “ pulled.” The “city crop” is said
to contribute largely toward paying running expenses of many busi-
ness houses that raise or “pull” it. The statement has been made
that as many as 45 or 50 bales of cotton derived from pulling samples
have been sold at the close of the season by an individual concern.

CONDITION OF THE SMALL COTTON FARMER.

Much loss is caused by this sampling to both small and large farm-
ers. The former class is numerous and contributes largely to the bulk
of the cotton crop. Whether a farmer with one horse or with four
horses, whether he cultivates 20 or 80 acres, his condition is the same.
Tf there be a difference in gradation the condition of the latter is likely
to be more wretched than that of the former. This class is without
ready cash or property that might be used as collateral to obtain
money with which to ‘begin and maintain the work of the season.
Therefore those constituting this relatively large class are from neces-
sity obliged to consult the merchant or factor, who agrees to provide
the means to enable the applicants to plant and cultivate acrop. The
advance is conditional upon the farmer cultivating a certain acreage
and producing a stipulated number of bales of cotton, usually one bale
for each $10 advanced. Furthermore, it is stipulated that the cotton
when ginned and baled shall be delivered to the creditor factor for
sale on commission, and $1.50 per bale commission is exacted on the

50166 ° —12—__2

10 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

number of bales stipulated even if a less number be produced. This
stipulation is intended as an incentive to production and as an insur-
ance for the loan.

Under the agreement the merchant or factor furnishes the farmer
with supplies for his family, seed, fertilizers, and such other materials
as may be considered necessary within the limitation of the agreement,
for which the charges are usually greater than the same supplies might
be bought for cash. Very little money is advanced. A high rate of
interest, rarely less than 8 per cent, is charged, the interest period
usually- covering six or eight months. Charges for storage and
imsurance begin with delivery of the cotton to the factor. When it
is sold an account is rendered the farmer, the debits including amount
of loan thereon, storage, insurance, drayage, commission, etc. The
weight of samples that have been pulled is, of course, so much loss
to the producer, and in addition to this loss deductions are made for
“country damage.” In the final settlement the farmer is fortunate if
the cotton has discharged his obligations. Under this system it is
within the power of the factor to report the sale at a lower grade
than that negotiated, thus depriving the farmer of an amount vary-
ing from $1 to $5 per bale. Grading is complex and intricate, requir-
ing expert knowledge, and in all cases the farmer who can not deter-
mine or recognize the difference between the grades is at the mercy of
the merchant and factor. However, classification is necessary and
helpful to all parties concerned and the service performed by experts
employed by the New York Cotton Exchange is generally acceptable
to the trade. The differences and relative values in grades are
explained elsewhere in this report.

COST OF CONVEYANCE—BALING METHODS.

The cost of conveying cotton from the ginnery or point of first
concentration to the compress and from the compress to cars or
steamship is an important factor in fixing the price of cotton to the
spinner. Excluding loss in weight from sampling, country damage,
drying out, and other causes, the cost of conveyance, ginning, and
recompression averages at least $5 per bale. The flat bale, 48 by 30
by 56 inches (fig. 1), is an irregular, bulky package, 25 of which
fill a 34-foot box car. When recompressed 50 bales can be packed
in the same car. In consequence of this reduction in the size of the
bale and resultant economy in space, the railroad companies carry
recompressed bales at a lower rate than is charged for flat bales, and
discrimination is likewise made by steamships in favor of recom-
pressed cotton. Recompression reduces the size of the bale (fig. 2).
but does not materially improve its appearance or character as a
merchantable package. 'The jute covering furnished by the ginner
{6 or 7 yards, 44 inches wide, weighing 12 to 3 pounds per yard, 2
pounds being the usual weight) does not cover the flat bale. The cal-
culation is that recompression will reduce the package within the
dimensions of the covering. Upon reaching the compress the cover-
ing shows the results of sampling, the lint protruding from numerous
holes, and additional openings caused by the use of hooks in handling
are prominent, the covering being so flimsy and weak as to be unable
to withstand the pressure of handling. To cover these holes pieces
of bagging are laid on the top and bottom of the bale when it is placed
in the press. The work of recompression is so rapid (100 to 120 bales

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. Ul

per hour) that little time or care can be given to adjusting the
patches, so that many bales emerge from the press with openings
through which lint protrudes. In many cases pieces of jute are
added merely to increase the weight of the bale and as an offset to the
claim for tare made by the purchaser. This is particularly true with
cotton intended for export. As previously stated, the service of the
compress consists solely in reducing the size of the package. The
bale is recompressed in the condition in which received, except for the
patches contributed to conceal lacerations, and goes forward for fur-
ther offering, sampling, and consumption, inadequately covered and
in unsightly form.

SECONDHAND MATERIALS UTILIZED,

Aside from the impairment of the package by cutting the covering
for samples, the use of secondhand bagging is contributory to the
ragged condition of the American cotton bale. If new jute bagging
were used on each bale, there would be complete protection and the
covering would resist much of the pressure incidental to handling and
which proves so disastrous to old bagging. What proportion of the
crop is covered with old bagging is problematical. There are several
degrees of this secondhand covering. The mills at home and abroad
aiter stripping the bale collect and sell the covering, which is shipped
to persons in this country who deal in it and work it over for sale to
ginners and others. When old bagging is received it is sorted, and,
conditions warranting, the pieces are sewed together. When a suffi-
cient number of yards is thus secured the material is made into rolls
and sold to ginners. Those pieces that can not be thus utilized are
torn up by machinery, converted into yarn, and woven into cloth.
This makes fairly good covering, but is not so strong as the original
material. After the first manipulation and conversion of the second-
hand bagging the output of each additional process is reduced in ten-
sile strength and yields to the slightest pressure. The mills produc-
ing this class of covering also supply the large compresses with pieces
of bagging, new and old, for patching. A large quantity of sugar
bagging is also used for baling cotton and for patching, all of which
is secondhand and much of which has been used several times. How-
ever, this bagging is usually a good quality of covering.

EXPENSES FROM FARM TO COMPRESS.

The expense for conveying a-bale of cotton from the farm to the
large compress for recompression is stated above to average $5.
That this is a conservative estimate is shown by statements of actual
expenditure furnished the writer by managers of large plantations.
Following is the statement of the manager of a plantation embracing
several thousand acres, located in Bolivar County, Mississippi:

Items.
Hauling from farm to ginnery......-..- $0.75 || Drayage, boat to compress.-......--..- $0. 25
Ginning, 40 cents per 100 pounds.....-. 2.00 || Insurance in Memphis, one month.... 25
mapeinevand tied. 52522-2) .. lense ee 100" |\#Storage; one:monthe ..- 9-22 -see ese. .50
ihisumanee)on! farms... ..1----2-s..-.- 210i (Compression. <5. 00. scesceeccceaace an .50
Freight to Memphis by boat.........- 1.25 OH
Insurance on boat........---.-...-.--- $25 Total yjacenccsceasae = sesemeee « 6. 85

12 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

Freight by rail is the same as by boat, but there is no expense for
insurance or drayage when the carriage is by rail. It seems, however,
the water route is preferred for reasons given by the planter furnish-
ing the above figures, who stated: “ We have the choice of rail or boat.
The latter is higher, considering insurance and drayage, but we prefer
the boat on account of receiving prompt service. We can load cotton
on the boat Saturday morning and have it in the warehouse at Mem-
phis Monday noon, whereas by rail it takes from 10 days to 6 or 7
weeks to land cotton in Memphis, even when shipped in carload lots,
when the season is on.”

Another large planter furnished the following statement of cost
of conveyance from the plantation to the compress:

Items. Amount. Items. Amount.
atin gt0) SINNENy sae ale allem wn > wie el= $0.50 |||, Weighing 2.2 3245.55.86 see eee $0. 10
Gli ee eee en seeanceiets 2.00 || Warehouse charges.....---.----------- . 50
IBaeeingiand lesa. so. eee cee seen sonee 1100 {|| (Compression. -455322. s522ea.- senna . 50
Freight to compress.......------------ 7225) Reesitior patching 22sec. os aes eens 25
FAV ARO foes cee ene Saison sera entail -10 oa he a OS
MISUTAN CO be aiyeacneecite wee toto. cies =e -15 Total sonia cocianeeteics tee eeereeee 6. 35

From a third source the following statement was obtained :

Items. Amount. Items. Amount.
Ea ULIng tol MMNery..s cee sess s $0. 7 Insurance... so cce=- 5552 Senne eeeeens $0. 50
Gimmingue tes: Seen See ast < eats ie teletstee 2)00' || ‘Compression... 126253552. 44 se eee . 50:
IBAg FINS ANGUHES Es eee ecto elec Zou @STOVAZCE 2 . Ole actercceseie ee eee ee eeeeers - 50
Freight to compress point....-......-- 1.25

Drayate towed yest esate se 15 | Notala. 2 ccetse see eee eee 6. 90

Commission for selling is not included in these statements, as com-
paratively little cotton is sold on commission. The charge for selling
is 24 per cent and in many cases 3 per cent. Charge for commission
may be safely placed at a minimum of $1.50 per bale. The cost for
conveyance to ginnery and from ginnery to compress point varies
according to distance. For storage and insurance at the compress
warehouse the minimum charge is for one month. After the first
month the charge for storage 1s reduced to one-half the charge for
the first month. A charge for patching is made only when that serv-
ice is ordered by the owner of the cotton. In the first statement the
items given are those actually paid by the planter. In the others
the cost for freight is given as representing an average of cost for
that item. Deductions made on account of country damage and loss
by sampling are not taken into consideration in the above statements.
There is loss from sampling, and deductions are made for country
damage, whether visible or not. These two items may be properly
included in the cost of handling and added to the totals above given.
They will average $2 per bale. The cost for commission where paid
and certain incidental charges average $2.50 per bale, making an
ageregate of $4.50 which should be added to the totals in the three
tables given above.

A comparative statement of the cost of handling cotton by the old
system and by the gin-compressed system has been made that indi-
cates a very material difference between the cost of handling the

:
:
;
:

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 13

ordinary flat bale from the farm to Liverpool and its sale in that
market, and the cost of handling the gin-compressed bale, the latter
being possibly one-half the former.

ILLUSTRATION OF BALING.

The condition of cotton under different methods of handling is
well shown by figure 3. No. 1 is a bale that has been ordered com-
pressed by a shipper, the order including patching with a sufficient
amount of bagging to cover the sample holes that were cut previous
to reaching the compress. It will be noticed that in the upper part
under the second band, some cotton is exposed, which indicates that
this bale originally was covered at the gin with the lowest grade
of jute bagging, with approximately one-fourth inch mesh.

No.2 is a bale that has been ordered compressed and patched with
secondhand bagging, which is bagging that has been stripped from
cotton at the mills in America and abroad and is returned to various
compresses for the purpose of using as patches. It is very often so
applied on order from the shipper, on account of its cheapness, to
fairly well covered bales, making what was originally a fair pack-
age one of very ordinary appearance.

_ No.3 is avery long and wide spongy bale, the very worst character

to handle at the compress. The bale, although large and ungainly, is
exceedingly light and weighs considerably less than any bale shown
in the illustration. The more this bale is pressed the worse it
becomes, as it is wider and longer than the platens, or jaws, of a
compress, and it necessarily follows that the pressure in the center
bulges the package out at the sides. The original covering was of
an inferior character, and the bale was not ordered patched. It will
be noticed that the second upper band passes over the original sample
hole. The space where cotton shows between the third and fourth
bands is where, after the bale was compressed, the owner, desiring a
sample, cut the packing to obtain it. He then evidently sold the
bale to another buyer, who, to satisfy himself that the cotton was as
represented by the sample, again cut the bale at the point above the
lower second band. It is probable the bale was shipped just as it is
shown in the picture.

No. 4 is a standard box bale, with original poor bagging. It was
not ordered patched, which fact is in evidence, one of the lower bands
having passed over the original sample hole before compressing. As
was the case in No. 3, the owner desired a sample, possibly to forward
abroad, and after compressing cut the bagging below the first upper
band, leaving that part of the bale exposed. Whether or not the
bale will go forward in even as good condition as the illustration
shows depends entirely upon the owner, who may resell or resample
the bale two, three, or four times, each time cutting another hole and
drawing another sample.

No. 5 is an extremely wide bale, wider than the platens, and
weighing more than 600 pounds. It was ordered compressed without
patching, but had originally a side strip on each side. One of these
strips was applied to cover the side exposed to the camera; the other
strip was used to cover holes on the opposite side of the bale. In
this case first one strip was used on each side, which was not suffi-
cient to cover the width of the cuts in the bagging, and therefore

14 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

the cotton is thoroughly exposed between the first and second and
second and third bands, and in the center of the bale, about the lower
portion between the second and third band, counting from the bottom
up. These holes are each about 1 foot in diameter. Attention is
directed particularly to the hole in the center of the bale. This was
evidently cut with a big jackknife in the country by the farmer, who
had his bale ginned, then dumped into a wagon at the gin and carried
io town, where it was offered for sale on the street. Having had his
cotton newly clothed at the ginnery the farmer cut this hole, drew
a sample, and “hawked” it on the streets for sale to the highest
bidder.

No. 6 is simply a bale of cotton ordered pressed without patching,
resampled by the owner, and the bagging at the upper end torn to

leces. ;
‘ No. 7 represents a bale ordered compressed and patched, and after-
wards resampled twice.

X X represent two gin-pressed bales that never have been sampled.
They are in evidence as almost perfectly packed, regarding dimension
and density, but the worth of packing has been destroyed by putting
on the most flimsy burlap that could be bought to cover this other-
wise acceptable package. Examination under a magnifying glass will
disclose that the bagging is about to fall to pieces. It will be shipped
in its present form. Each handling with hooks will tear the bagging,
and what could originally have been a model bale will no doubt
reach destination in a most deplorable condition so far as covering
is concerned.

A A represent two bales of compressed cotton that had originally
one sample hole in each. The owner ordered this cotton compressed
and afterwards covered with new, standard bagging. It will be
noted that the bagging applied to these bales, the patching from the
top to the bottom of the marking, is of better quality than the original
that shows just above each marking. But even at that, the bales rep-
resent what a perfectly compressed bale would be if standard boxing
were adopted in the country and cotton were perfectly covered. It is
highly probable that if these two bales were to encircle the globe and
have frequent handling they would reach their destination in prac-
tically the same form shown in the photograph.

ARTIFICIAL MOISTURE—COUNTRY DAMAGE.

The indifference exhibited in the proper care and safeguarding of
this great crop by all who handle it is inexplicable and unjustifiable.
Beginning with the farmer, it is treated as if immune to all climatic
changes and conditions and invulnerable to damage from any rough
treatment that may be encountered. The farmer will deliberately
place the bale on the ground, without any protection whatever, and
for the avowed purpose of having the weight increased by moisture.
In furtherance of this purpose the cotton is often so placed as to
acquire the greatest amount of moisture in the shortest time, depres-
sions in the ground and similar locations favorable to the end in view
being preferred. Exuglation under fair-weather influences is almost
as rapid as absorption, so that the purpose of the exposure is not fully
realized, and as purchasers readily detect excessive artificial moisture

a, a ee Se

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 15

and make deductions for it, the farmer is liable to sustain loss rather
than secure profit from the deliberate exposure of his cotton. More-
over, it frequently happens that long exposure results in such serious
damage as materially to reduce the intrinsic value of the cotton.

The loosely packed gin-box bale, whose density is 10 to 12 pounds
to the cubic foot, will absorb a greater amount of moisture than the
more densely packed recompressed bale, and by reason of less
density moisture will evaporate more quickly in the case of the
former.

Many examples might be given of damaging effects of exposure.
One such example is furnished by the State of Georgia. Last year
that State grew a considerable quantity of cotton on its farm, which
is operated by convicts. The cotton after having been ginned and
baled was allowed to remain on the farm without protection against
the weather. In April last proposals were invited for the purchase
of the State cotton, in response to which a number of merchants
visited the farm for the purpose of making an inspection prelimi-
nary to offers to purchase. Inspection disclosed that the cotton was
damaged to an extent that made it necessary to unpack and spread
it out that the visible damage might be removed by picking and
that the remainder might be resuscitated by exposure to the sun
and wind. Not a single bid was made for the cotton by those who
were invited to purchase.

CAUSE AND EXTENT OF COUNTRY DAMAGE.

Country damage prevails to such an extent that it has become the
custom to consider reclamation on that account, and in purchasing
from the farmer the merchant usually deducts some points to cover
that contingency. One estimate places the loss to the farmer on
account of country damage at $2 per bale. This form of damage is
inseparable from carelessness in handling after the cotton is ginned.
The farmer usually retains possession of the cotton after ginning
for a period of one to six months, during which time it is exposed
to the weather and is moved about over platforms, dragged over
fields and roads, at the convenience or to meet the necessities of
the owner. The bale being loosely pressed and only partially cov-
ered, readily absorbs moisture and the lint, which is exposed by lack
of covering and obtrudes from sample holes, becomes discolored.
stained, impregnated with dust, and suffers other damage that affects
the commercial value of the bale. Much of the country damage is
claimed to be sustained while the cotton remains in possession of the
farmer or the merchant, and before it undergoes recompression. The
damaged lint is picked from the bale and is so much loss to the
cwner. It sometimes happens that the country damage is so great
that the covering and ties are removed, the entire bale overhauled,
and the cotton repacked. Compression at the ginnery and covering
the bale completely with good jute or burlap would very largely re-
duce, perhaps entirely remove, liability to country damage. Figure
4 represents cotton removed from warehouse at Augusta, Ga., in con-
sequence of floods in April and May, 1912, and exposed for resuscita-
tion. This cotton had to be rebaled.

16 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.
SIGNIFICANT ACTION BY STEAMSHIP COMPANIES.

In connection with existing methods of sending American cotton to
market a movement on the part of agents in this country of steamship
companies engaged in carrying the product to Europe has signifi-
cance. Owing to the fact that in recent cases brought to trial the
ocean-carrying companies were held liable for damage to merchandise
for which a clean bill of lading was given upon its reception, steam-

ship owners instructed their agents to take the necessary steps to

guard their companies against this liability. Agents representing
practically all the ocean-carrying companies held a meeting at New

Orleans on April 16, 1912, and after full discussion and deliberation °

decided that beginning September 1, 1912, the receipt of cotton at
ship side “in apparent good order and condition ” would be strictly
interpreted, and that no clean mates’ receipts, mates’ receipts, or ocean
bills of lading would be issued for cotton which was not delivered
to the vessel entirely covered and free of all evidence of damage.
This action grew from the fact that it has been customary for the
companies to give clean bills of lading for merchandise received from
railway companies as well as individual shippers when there was no
visible evidence of damage. In suits to recover damages instituted
in this country and England it was contended by the companies that
they were not liable for damage that had evidently occurred before
the merchandise came into their possession. In each case the claim
was for country damage to cotton. It was held by the courts in both
countries that having issued a clean bill of lading the companies were
liable, upon the assumption that the merchandise was therein accu-
rately described. The meeting alluded to held at New Orleans was
participated in by agents of all ocean lines plying between the
Atlantic and Gulf ports and those of Europe. Strict adherence to
this resolution would compel shippers to entirely cover cotton, other-
wise the decuments issued by the ocean companies would be stamped
to show the actual condition of the cotton when received at side of
ship.

The action of the steamship representatives is set forth in the
following, to the strict adherence of which those attending the con-
ference obligated themselves and their respective companies:

That from and after September 1, 1912, the receipt “in apparent good order
and conditicn ” will be strictly interpreted in regard to cotton or any other mer-
chandise, and that no clean mates’ receipts, masters’ receipts, or ocean bills of
lading will be issued for cotton which is not delivered to the steamer thoroughly
covered, free of evidence of damage, durably and legibly marked; that on and
after September 1, 1912, railroads will be required to deliver at the office of the
agent of the steamship line made a party to any through bill of lading, two (2)
certified copies of same within 72 hours after date appearing on said bill of
lading; the bill of lading must bear the steamship agent’s contract number,
under which issuance was authorized; no cargo on through bill of lading will

be forwarded until after copies of bill of lading have been delivered to the
steamship agent.

OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE ON SHIPPING COMPANIES’ ACTION.
Vigorous protest was made by cotton exchanges and exporters

throughout the country against the action of the steamship agents,
and at the instance of the New Orleans exchange a meeting was held

“PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 17

at that city May 15 which was largely attended by representatives of
the several branches of the cotton industry. The sense of the meet-
ing was expressed in the following resolutions:

That it is the sense of this meeting that cotton should be properly covered,
with the ends sewed and the bale of proper density, and that we will lend our
efforts toward accomplishing this end; but we consider that a bale of cotton
with two uncovered sample holes does not constitute bad condition, such
sample holes being absolutely necessary for the proper conduct of the business,
and we believe the steamship agents have shown that claims due to open sample
holes have been frivolous and trifling.

That it would be impracticable and unnecessary to cover the sides of the bale,
from which source the steamship agents admit there is practically no damage,

It was further decided at the New Orleans meeting that a confer-
ence of all parties interested in the handling of cotton should be called
to meet at New York July 15. In compliance with this call upward
of 100 delegates met at New York on the date stated, representatives
being present from cotton exchanges, shippers, steamship and rail-
road companies, bankers, and insurance companies. After discussion
of the differences, a committee was appointed, which reported the

following as a compromise:

It is mutually understood and agreed that the description of the condition
of the cotton does not relate to insufficiency of or to the torn condition of the
covering, nor to any damage resulting therefrom, and that no carrier shall be
responsible for any damage of such nature, nor for any damage not caused by
its negligence.

This agreement, reported by the committee, was given unanimous
approval by the conference, and following September 1 the above
paragraph will be added to bills of lading of railroad and steamship
companies.

TESTIMONY OF A PRODUCER.

Mr. G. R. Hightower, of Jackson, Miss., a large producer of cotton,
in a discussion of baling and handling American cotton at the meet-
ing of the International Congress of Master Spinners’ and Manufac-
turers’ Associations held at Barcelona, Spain, in May, 1911, thus de-
scribed the manner of handling cotton in the United States while in
transit from gin to mill. The description applies particularly to the
product of small growers.

It is found by the buyer at the market place of the small town on the
grower’s wagon. ‘The covering is there cut by the small merchant or local buyer
and a sample drawn, and the bale is then thrown on the ground and weighed.
From this moment it is abused, reweighed, resampled, weights padded and
grafted on in every conceivable manner, until it reaches the mill. The ground
is usually wet and the bale absorbs moisture, and after remaining on the ground
a few days exposed to the weather, the first buyer will probably have accumulated
enough cotton to attract a larger buyer, who collects larger lots, and sells to a
buyer higher up or to an exporter. Many times it passes through a dozen hands
before reaching the exporter, and each time a new sample is drawn. After
being bought by a larger buyer or exporter it is ordered to be shipped to the
large compress, and oftentimes lies on an open platform for weeks before being:
shipped from point of origin. This delay and exposure is particularly commom
during the rush of the season when the railroads are crowded. On arrival at
the compress it is more apt to find a place on an open platform than under 2
shed. The average period of exposure after the bale is sold by the grower is
about six weeks, and it is during this time that 85 per cent of the country
damage occurs. The great trouble lies in the fact that the dozen of small

50166°—12——3

18 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

buyers who handle cotton have no facilities for taking care of it, and the ex-
porter is not prepared to protect it, hence it has a perilous journey after passing
out of the grower’s hands and before reaching the mill.

LACK OF WAREHOUSE FACILITIES.

The farmer is not singular in this respect. ‘The merchant is equally
careless and indifferent, but his action is in the main attributable to
inadequate facilities to protect rather than a desire artificially to
increase the weight by questionable processes. The fact that there is
great deficiency in facilities for proper storage and that it has long
been the custom to see cotton flanking the highways and massed at
convenient points for long periods of time, exposed to the weather
and offering temptation and opportunity for pilfering, has. been
instrumental in creating a feeling of indifference and in contributing
to the belief that long exposure does not damage cotton. Therefore
merchants look with complacency upon cotton without shelter, and
when questioned will reply that rain and dampness add a certain
degree of moisture which sunshine and wind cause to evaporate and
ieave the cotton without appreciable damage. Lack of proper
storage and systematic warehousing, like insufficient and inadequate
covering for the bale, is a natural result of the perpetuation of the
antiquated system of handling cotton. These adverse conditions are
primarily attributable to the absence of system and lack of organiza-
tion in this enormous industry. It has grown without the nurture
and aid that come and abide with organization. The world’s neces-
sities have applied the propelling force, and this would undoubtedly
have been much greater, more efficient, and valuable with organiza-
tion as an auxiliary.

Mr. Harvie Jordan, of Atlanta, Ga., a cotton planter and otherwise
interested in the industry, in describing the lack of warehouses and
the consequent loss and damage, said:

The absence of adequate warehouses and shedding facilities at interior points
and at our ports is responsible in a great measure for the badly damaged con-
dition of lint when finally delivered to the mills for consumption. There is not
a single cotton-growing county in the Southern States which has ample or first-
elass warehouse facilities for the storage of the crop until ready for sale and
shipment. There is not a single compress plant in the South with adequate
shedded platforms to protect the bales from the damaging effects of the weather
during the periods of congestion at such plants in the fall and winter months.
There is not a single cotton port in the South where cotton can be properly
stored and kept from the damaging influences of rain, sunshine, and wind until
it is loaded on the vessel. The majority of farmers who hold all or a portion
of their cotton crop on their farms until ready for market leave the bales lying
around on the ground, part of the time in the mud, without shelter and practi-
cally without any care whatever. In most of the interior markets the limited
warehouse space is soon filled, and the balance of the crop, when delivered at
such points, is stored on the streets or sidewalks or thrown on vacant lots,
there to lie in the snow, sleet, rain, and mud until sold and routed to the big
compresses for recompression, when it goes through the same kind of neglect,
and then on to the ports for a continuance of such treatment.

Figures 5, 6, and 7 illustrate the methods of storing cotton during
the busy season. They are reproduced through the courtesy of the
Cotton Publishing Co., of Atlanta, Ga,

a ee

A PROPOSED SYSTEM.

How these conditions may be removed and modern business methods
applied to the cultivation and preparation of American cotton for
market are questions to which the attention of economists is being
directed and which are being earnestly discussed by men concerned in
the several branches of the industry. There is no dispute as to the
fact that the methods of producing and preparing American cotton
are wasteful, and there is practically a universal desire for a change
that will give promise of reformation. The time is opportune, at
least for discussing plans, and encouragement is found in the fact
that those actively engaged in the industry, from farmer to spinner,
are prepared to cooperate with and support any practical and feasible
system the application of which would secure the results desired.

The magnitude of the business, as heretofore explained, makes it
difficult and discouraging to individual effort, corporate enterprise,
or action by municipal or State authorities, a fact that is accentuated
by failure of such efforts. The inadequate covering of the bale, the
absence of proper care after baling, the cutting of the covering for
samples, the dilatory and expensive method of conveyance, and other
conditions that are deplored by the trade are the outgrowth of the
system in vogue and are inseparate from it. Efforts heretofore made
to bring about reform have been directed to treatment of these symp-
toms, little attention having been given the responsible cause. Mr.
G. R. Hightower, of Jackson, Miss., previously quoted, states:

The dealers individually are not to be censured too severely for the waste,
the extravagance, and the abuse so common in the industry to-day, because no
individual can afford to provide a system of warehouses, warehouse keepers,
weighers, and shippers for the protection and proper handling of the cotton he
buys. No individual dealer handles more than a very small percentage of the
cotton in the territory where he operates, and the necessary equipment for the
proper care would cost too great an outlay to allow a profit on his business
should he provide it. It is therefore a necessity that the dealer should adapt

himself to the system in vogue and apply the method in the main used by others
in order to make money.

BALING AT GINNERIES.

Proper baling by completely covering with material that will insure
protection can be satisfactorily accomplished by compressing at the
ginnery, and this is undoubtedly practicable for the large percentage
of the crop that is grown under conditions of concentrated production.
Indeed, gin compression has been established at a number of points
in the cotton belt and on many of the large plantations, with highly
satisfactory results. A gin compress will take the output of a battery
of four or six gins. It turns out a bale of 500 pounds, 20 by 26 by 54
inches, or 18 by 30 by 48 inches, compressed to a density of 30 pounds
to the cubic foot, covered with clean, closely woven burlap, and bound
with seven steel ties (figs. 8 and 9). Thus packed at the gin the bale

19

20 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

is ready for market. One of these gin compresses can be installed for
$1,500 to $4,500. There are several different makes of gin compresses
in operation. Ata large plantation visited, located on the Mississippi
River and embracing about 9,000 acres, and on which two gin com-
presses are installed, it was stated that the weight of the burlap and
steel ties used, which constitute the tare, is 12 pounds. The bur-
lap covering measures 44 yards, is 46 inches wide, and weighs 16
ounces to the yard. The ties and buckles, seven in number, each
weigh 1 pound. Allowance is made for variations in the weights
given. The established tare on the bale recompressed at the large
compresses is 22 pounds for mills in Southern States, 24 for New
England mills, and 6 per cent, or 30 pounds, for foreign mills. The
tare on the Egyptian bale is 224 pounds. This bale weighs approxi-
mately 750 pounds and carries 11 heavy ties. The tare of the
Indian bale, which weighs 400 pounds, is 94 pounds. The latter is

48 inches long, 22 deep, and 17 wide; the former is 51 inches long, 313 _

deep, and 22 wide.
RECOMMENDATION OF SPINNERS.

European exchanges adopted the 6 per cent tare in consequence
of the character and weight of the covering generally used in
the United States. Whether this tare is greater than it should
be is a disputed question, and one that gives rise to much irritation
and controversy. Investigations at Liverpool and other European
cotton centers show that while in individual cases the 6 per cent claim
is too high, on the whole it is rather below than above the average
weight of covering placed on American cotton sent to foreign markets.
There is little doubt that the Liverpool Cotton Association, which
is the leading and controlling exchange in Europe, and whose
influence is felt in the United States, would rescind the 6 per cent
rule and agree to purchase at net weight if the gin compress system
should come into general use. This is indicated by formal action
on the part of European associations in considering this question.
In 1907, nearly five years ago, at the conference held at Atlanta,
Ga., between a large delegation of the International Congress of
Master Cotton Spinners’ and Manufacturers’ Associations and lead-
ing cotton producers of the Southern States, after considerable dis-
cussion, the following resolution was adopted:

We condemn the bagging now in use; first, because of its rough and coarse
nature it invites rough treatment; second, it does not hold the marks; third,
on account of its great weight and bulk it entails heavy loss in freight. We
therefore recommend the use of a light burlap or covering made of cotton, such
as osnaburg, 10 ounces weight per yard, 40 inches wide. We recommend that
all planters, wherever practicable, put in as rapidly as possible gin compresses,
and in baling of cotton the Egyptian character of bale be adopted, the ties of
the Egyptian type, the weight of the bale 500 pounds, the density 35 pounds,
and the bale to be marked upon both ends with weight, grade, and staple.

At the meeting of the International Federation held last year at
Barcelona, Spain, the question of purchasing net weight was dis-
cussed and the following resolution was adopted:

That this congress confirms the convenience resulting from the net-weight

cotton contract, and urges the members of each affiliated association to buy at
least a portion of their cotton requirements on its basis, the congress being

ee

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. Zt

of the opinion that only by the adoption of such contract the American cotton
proGucer can be induced to adopt the new system of baling and handling cotton,
as previously recommended by the International Federation.

The difference between various kinds of cotton bales is shown in
figure 10. On the left is an ordinary gin-box bale, weighing 476
pounds and measuring 55 by 30 by 41 inches; the density is 12 pounds
per cubic foot and the tare 20 pounds. Next to it is an Egyptian
bale weighing 750 pounds and measuring 51 by 22 by 31 inches; the
density is 37.3 pounds per cubic foot and the tare 22 pounds. ‘The
third is a gin-compressed bale weighing 585 pounds and measuring
48 by 18 by 35 inches, with a density of 33.4, pounds per cubic foot
and tare of 10 pounds. The recompressed bale on the right weighs
595 pounds, measures 56 by 30 by 27 inches, has a density of 22.2
pounds per cubic foot and tare of 24 pounds.

ADVANTAGES OF GIN COMPRESSION.

It is apparent that the European spinners insist on the 6 per cent
tare as a measure of protection against the excessive weight of
bagging used in the United States. Continuance of the 6 per cent
rule is profitable to the exporter on this side of the Atlantic and to
the importer on the other side, but is not specially desired by either
the spinner or the producer. This view of the matter is sustained by
the fact that gin-compressed cotton is now shipped direct from the
ginnery to the merchant or spinner in Europe free from mutilations
incidental to sampling and free from the charges that attach to the
old system.

The writer was shown an account current of a large Liverpool
house which gave a statement of the sale of 55 bales of gin-com-
pressed cotton shipped from Montgomery, Ala., by the Farmers’ Com-
press & Warehouse Co. of that city, which may be properly intro-
duced here in part. The statement of account follows:

Noy.120) Po treight— ---— $182. 73 | Nov. 28, By sale FOD —----_- 50 B/C.
Liverpool dues ~------~ 5. 44 Byasale, (COM [sae 5 B/E
Quay porterage ____ 3. 60 Gross A
Stamping policy -_-__----~ sal) Tare and bands__
Hip Oost of eable.2. 3 22 1. 82 ————————
18, Warehouse rent___-_---_ 1.68 INGips oo fe eee 25, 963 lbs.
Fire insurance_______-_ 7. 69 Se
Cartage and porterage__ 10. 04 GLOSS ee tee ees $4, 252. 25
Dec. 1, Commission 3 per cent__ 21.46 FOD 8 B/C.
Remiftances= 22.2 2 = 4, 021. 87 Country damage_____ 3. 12
Balance on interest__ 1.15
PB cyte ees a ta a Is he 4, 256. 52 Motale:: ess 2ea 4, 256. 52

The gross weight in Liverpool was 26,606 pounds and in Montgom-
ery, Ala., 26,297 pounds, the gain in weight being 409 pounds. It
will be noticed that the deduction for tare and bands (bagging and
ties) was less than 12 pounds per bale, and that country damage was
found in only eight bales. The cotton was sold in Liverpool at 15.32
cents per pound.

Several important advantages over recompression recommend com-
pression at the ginnery. These are greater density and uniformity
of package, character of wrapping, ease and economy in transporta-
tion, and minimum of tare. <A 34-foot box car will carry 50 recom-
pressed bales; 85 gin-compressed bales can be carried in the same
space. The burlap covers and completely protects the cotton, which
the jute covering of the recompressed bale does not, and permits the

22 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

package to be plainly marked in a manner that will not be obliter-:
ated. The marking of the bale so it may be identified is a highly
important matter. The bill of lading and other shipping documents
describe the marks placed on the bale for identification, but if these
be obliterated, defaced, or removed by cutting the covering, delivery
of the cotton to the purchaser is difficult, sometimes impossible, when
a large cargo consigned to numerous buyers is concerned. The re-
compressed bale rarely reaches its destination in condition to permit
recognition of marks,

PROPER MARKING OF BALES.

The character and condition of the bagging as it leaves the large
compress preclude proper marking. Moreover, the operation is so
rapid and the material employed so inadequate for the purpose in-
tended that the mark, usually placed on the bale while in motion
from the compress to the laborer who removes it, is often so smeared
before the bale reaches the shed that it is almost useless for the pur-
pose of identification. It not infrequently happens that the mark,
or a portion of the mark, is placed over a sample hole. :

Several metallic devices have been introduced for the better mark-
ing of cotton. These are placed securely on the tie and can not be
removed without removing the band on which the tag is fastened.
Tf desired, two or more of these metal tags may be placed on the
bale. The number and location of the ginnery at which the cotton
was baled is stamped on the tag, thus furnishing means for deter-
mining by whom the cotton was packed. The tags are numbered
serially so that the ginner may readily ascertain the producer of cot-
ton as to which complaint is made.

CONDITION OF AMERICAN COTTON IN LIVERPOOL.

In a recent report to the Department of State the American consul
at Liverpool wrote in regard to the condition in which cotton arrived
at that port from the United States:

It rarely happens that one sees a carefully prepared bale of American cotton,
and it is equally as rare to see a carelessly prepared bale among the foreign
shipments. * * * The constant complaints with regard to American baling
appear to arise from the inconvenience which is thereby caused in handling the
bales as well as from damage to the cotton and consequent loss from insecurity
of the packing. The inconvenience arises by reason of the marking being so
damaged or torn away at times as to make it difficult to determine all of the
particular bales which are due to a particular consignee, and delay and diffi-
culty are the outcome. The writer saw on the quays bales which had been
practically denuded of covering. It is quite clear from the manifest that a cer-
tain number of bales are due to a certain consignee, but there is a loss to some
one unless each receives the particular grade of cotton which he has purchased.

The advantages, however, claimed for gin compression are lessened
if the bale be subjected to the usual cutting to obtain samples or if
the quality of the burlap used for covering be inferior. No manner
ef packing can be effective if the package be surrendered to such a
system. Therefore the substitution of an entirely new system of
grading, which will limit the pulling to one sample from each bale
before the cotton is covered, and provide that grading shall be done
at the time of ginning, is suggested as a tentative plan for the suc-

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 23

cessful establishment of a reform so urgently demanded by persons
concerned in the cotton industry, and the establishment of which
would be the means of saving the $50,000,000 or more estimated to be
wasted annually by adherence to the present system. That this is
entirely practicable is very strongly disputed by good authority, but
the proposed plan seems worthy of careful consideration.

BENEFITS TO TRANSPORTATION COMPANTES,

Compression at the ginnery, it is said, would save at least 50 per
cent of the expense that attaches to the present system of recompres-
sion at points distant from the ginnery. Preparation of cotton
at the ginnery for market would not only result in large economy
in the cost of preliminary handling, but would result in further
economies in securing reductions in cost of transportation by land
and sea, inland and marine insurance, warehousing, etc. The
complete covering of the cotton, the density of the package, the
superior method of compression, appeal alike to transportation com-
panies, insurance companies, and consumers. To transport 250
gin-box bales requires ten 34-foot box cars. In the same space 500
recompressed bales and 850 gin-compressed bales may be packed. It
is estimated that 40,000 cars are required to move the cotton crop
promptly under the present system of handling. With gin com-
pression this important work could be done by the use of 25,000
or 30,000 cars, and with great saving in time and expense. Instead
of carrying cotton to the distant compress and being detained there
for long or short periods, the cars would be loaded at the ginnery or
a contiguous point for concentration and proceed direct to destina-
tion, or the seaboard if intended for export. Uniformity of the bale
would be especially advantageous and economical in ocean carriage.
In addition to economy in space the cotton could be packed in the
hold without the use of screw jacks, which are now necessary with
uneven and ragged packages, this latter performance resulting in
damage and loss and further impairment of the package. In an
address recently delivered before the traffic managers of the southern
railways on this subject Mr. Harvie Jordan, of Atlanta, said:

Gin compression for the railways would mean a tremendous lessening of the
expense of empty freight boxes standing on sidings and rotting for six months
of the year, or during the heavy moving of the cotton season. Two-thirds of
the present rolling stock employed in the movement of the crop during six

months of each year could be diverted to other uses, or saved to the operating
expenses of the railway companies.

ESTIMATES FROM RAILROAD MEN.

An officer of the freight department of the Illinois Central Rail-
road, which runs through the cotton belt, and which hauls a large
quantity of cotton, has furnished the following illustration of the
car space and time now required to handle cotton between the farm,
the compress, and the port of New Orleans:

Cotton originating at Dueck Hill, Miss., if shipped north will be compressed
at Grenada, 12 miles distant; if shipped south, it will be compressed at

Winona, also 12 miles distant. The average time consumed in the conveyance
of 100 bales to either of those places is 2 days, and 4 box cars are required for

94 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

the service. Should there be congestion at either point, which is likely during
the three roonths of the busy season, the cars will be held 3 or 4 days before
they can be unloaded and moved out of the compress yard. Assuming that
only 2 days be thus consumed, the shortest possible time, that is equivalent
to 1 car for 8 days. Moreover, to carry the cotton to its destination, north
or south, 2 cars must be run into the compress and be there loaded, the
average time occupied in this way being 3 days. IF'rom the compress point to
Memphis or New Orleans is 2 days. Thus 2 cars are occupied 5 days, equiya-
lent to 1 car for 10 days, and adding the 8 days for conveyance to the compress,
18 days in moving 100 bales from the initial point to Memphis, the point of
concentration, or New Orleans, the port for ocean shipment. A 40-foot car
loaded at Duck Hill with 100 bales will reach Memphis or New Orleans in the
same time (2 days). It will thus be seen that one 40-foot car employed for
2 days on gin-compressed cotton will do the same amount of work that requires
18 days under the present system.

Mr. J. H. Marion, of Chester, S. C., a railroad man who has given
much study to this subject, in speaking of gin compression, thus
epitomized the advantages that would come to transportation com-
panies by its general adoption:

One long haul from gin to port versus six shorter hauls; part of the cost of
unloading and reloading freight cars at compress points; loss of time (demur-
rage) of freight cars arising from unloading and reloading; cost of shunting
and marshaling trains; locomotives, labor, fuel, and other stores at compress
points; shorter trains to haul and consequent reduced trackage; reduction in
number of locomotives necessary to perform the same work; saving in space
and in consequent cost of sidings, goods staging, and warehouse construction ;
not to mention the matter of interest upon the capital cost of the same, nor the
items of cost which come into their account as working expenses.

Mr. G. R. Bennett, of Austin, Tex., who is largely interested in
the cotton industry, speaking of the necessity for the introduction of
improved methods of handling cotton, said:

There is no question but that there is a demand for better handling of
eotton. This any handler will tell you, regardless of his interests or his
prejudices. The spinners.of the world are demanding an improved bale and
a better handling of American cotton, which is the only cotton that is handled
in a slipshod, ragged way. All other cotton-raising countries have long since
adopted improved methods of baling and have a perfectly covered and well
cared for bale. The American is the only bale that is permitted to lie around
in the weather exposed to damage and stealings and every-character of waste.

GRADING AT THE GINNERY.

Tt is suggested that ultimately some plan for grading at the ginnery
may be devised. It is not possible to assume that the present unfor-
iunate conditions will be permitted to continue indefinitely. The
presentation of some system that will improve these conditions is an
urgent need at this time. For reasons heretofore explained it is be-
lieved that great difficulties confront an effort for change by indi-
vidual or locally combined effort.

The suggestion has been made and has received approval in many
quarters that the Federal Government should establish a system of
grading, certifying, and warehousing cotton, the acceptance of which
should not be made mandatory but left optional with those whom it is
intended to serve. While the Department of Commerce and Labor is
on record as disapproving any plan to materially extend Federal su-
pervision over the cotton industry, it may be useful to consider the
results which would follow from the establishment of an authorita-
tive system of grading cotton at the ginnery. .

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON, 25

Assuming that under the proposed system the United States Gov-
ernment, through the Department of Agriculture or some combina-
tion of commercial interests which would command universal accept-
ance by those concerned in the handling and marketing of cotton,
should appoint experts to grade cotton—these appointments to be
made under some plan that would tend to insure the employment of
qualified graders—only men of high character, having large experi-
ence in this field, possessing the requisite technical knowledge and
iraining, and whose judgment would be generally accepted without
hesitation should be eligible for appointment as graders. The of-
ficial grading proposed should be done at ginneries immediately fol-
lowing compression and before the bale is wrapped, and a certificate
would be given the owner setting forth in detail the quality of the
cotton, specifying weight, class, type, grade, length, softness, fine-
ness, and strength of staple, together with the place of production,
number of the ginnery, and such other information as might be help-
ful to the purchaser. In this way the producer would secure a dis-
interested and accurate analysis of his cotton set forth in an authori-
tative certificate which might be accepted for its face value by those
desiring to purchase, and which could be used by the farmer with the
local banks for collateral for a loan in case it was desirable to hold

the cotton. If not immediately removed after ginning, the cotton

could be stored in a warehouse and be subject to the order of the
owner. The merchant buying for future delivery would be assisted,
it is suggested, by this system of authoritative designation of the
grade of each bale. ‘

While there are difficulties too numerous to outline in this report
concerning the establishment of any such system, it is suggested
that some such system would be highly desirable as a standard toward
which the present efforts for the improvement of the handling of the
cotton crop should be directed. The many objections to such a tre-
mendous extension of the share of the Federal Government in the
business of handling the cotton crop may render it entirely outside
the region of practicability. Some approximation, however, of this
plan to establish authoritative grades and to assure a better protec-
tion for the cotton crop than is now afforded may be secured by con-
certed efforts by those who seriously desire to improve the existing
conditions.

OPINION OF AN EXPERT.

Several years ago Mr. D. A. Tompkins, of Charlotte, N. C., who
has made careful study of the growth of cotton and of the several
processes through which it passes between the farm and the mill,
and whose practical knowledge acquired in the active management
of mills makes his testimony valuable, delivered an address at Shreve-
port, La., before the National Cotton Convention, in which the issu-
ance of a certificate somewhat similar to that herein outlined was
advocated. In the course of his address, Mr. Tompkins said:

I believe that the practical monopoly which we have had in the past can

be continued if we will protect the conditions surrounding the production of
eotton against menacing influence, and if we bring about, in place of the

-menaces, fostering influences. The cotton plant is one of the most delicate of

the agricultural products. It is produced in a climate that varies enough to
make the variation in cotton production range from 150 pounds of lint cotton

26 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

per acre to 225 pounds of lint cotton per acre. One frost might make this
difference from one year to another because of the extreme delicacy of the plant
and of extreme variations in climatic conditions. We furnish to the world one
year a crop which is overwhelmingly big, and the next year a crop which is
insufficient to supply the ordinary demands. This creates a condition in which
the speculator holds high carnival in dealing in cotton. The legitimate mer-
chant and the manufacturer are made to turn gambler whether they will or
not, and the ordinary course of trade is tremendously disturbed. The average
production for 10 years, if it could be maintained, would bring about an aver-
age price. Inasmuch as the climate forbids this from one year to another,
it is important that the production shall be, by some artificial means, brought
to more or less of an average, and thereby the price would be brought to an
approximate average.

NEED OF A WAREHOUSE SYSTEM.

I believe this might best be done by the development of a system of ware-
houses which did far more than shelter and care for the cotton. Wxisting ware-
houses simply issue a receipt for a bale of cotton. No effort is made to state
what kind of cotton the receipt stands for, nor does the warehouse company
assume any responsibility for the grade, weight, or anything else connected
with the cotton. Insurance is higher than it ought to be. I believe if a com-
prehensive warehouse company would engage the best graders to be had, and
would issue a certificate in which every factor relating to. the bale of cotton
was accurately entered, and the warehouse company stand responsible for
the description of the cotton as given in the receipt, that such a receipt could
be traded in to better advantage than the bale of cotton itself. The purchaser -
of the receipt in Carolina, in Hngland, or in Germany would know more about
the particular bale of cotton in question from the receipt in hand than he would
know about it if he saw the bale of cotton.

Cotton being one of the very best collaterals on the market, such receipts
standing for the cotton exactly, might be traded in in the financial institutions
of the whole world. Thus it would be feasible to bring cotton within the
reach of all the surplus money of the world, and when there was a large crop
the surplus would undoubtedly be carried over by financial institutions as
investments until a small crop should bring the price to an average. it would
save the forcing of the surplus onto the market, and by proper construction of
warehouses, proper protection against fire, and building in proper units, the
cost of carrying cotton could be very much reduced by reduction of insurance,
and by reduction of interest rate in consequence of the certificate being an
accurate representation of the cotton itself, and being as good for money in
Providence or Liverpool as in the town in which the warehouse is located.

VALUE OF AN AUTHORITATIVE CERTIFICATE.

I exhibit a receipt which not only stands for a bale of cotton but gives the
general classification, the grade, the length of the staple, the degree of tinge,
the degree of softness, the degree of fineness, and all these points are given
in accordance with the judgment and the skill of the best and most expert
graders obtainable. Therefore the record written by the expert would make
a certificate representing a bale of cotton stand for more to a purchaser than
if an average inexpert purchaser could see the bale of cotton himself. This cer-
tificate would stand for more to a banker in Liverpool or in Bremen than the
cotton would to the average man who was in the town where the cotton was
located and he could see the cotton. It would, in addition to having the record
of an expert’s judgment on every feature of the particular bale of the cotton,
also have the backing of a responsible company guaranteeing this record. Such
a system of warehouses, with such a receipt, would tremendously simplify the
purchase by a millman of cotton in warehouse, no matter where located in the
cotton-growing district. The Huropean spinner by the purchase of these cer-
tificates could become the owner of cotton in Memphis with absolute contidence
that, with a certificate in hand, he knew more about the cotton than if he
could see it in Memphis, and with the further absolute confidence that the _
responsibility of the warehouse company insured his getting the cotton when-—
ever he wanted it, and yet equally insured its safe-keeping for him as long as

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 2"

the owners of the certificate wanted him to do so. By making it feasible for
a millman to buy cotton from the owner in warehouse outside the territory,
and by bringing cotton into shape where it could be held as an investment and
the surplus carried over from one season to another, speculation would neces-
sarily have a much narrower field of operations than now and the cotton
spinner would have an infinitely better situation in respect to buying cotton.

The foregoing utterance was made in December, 1904, nearly eight
years ago. Since then the cotton crop has grown in magnitude and
value, but no material changes have taken place in methods of prepa-
ration for market. The lapse of time, additional study, and further
practical experience have strengthened the conviction of Mr. Tomp-
kins that the service of a competent, powerful,‘and trustworthy
agency is needed to initiate and carry on a movement for the establish-
ment of an organization that will inaugurate the reform so urgently
desired and so imperatively needed. In discussing recently with
Mr. Tompkins his warehouse and certificate proposition he declared
that all men familiar with present conditions of producing and
marketing cotton and interested in bettering these conditions were
prepared to cooperate with any plan for organization that appeared
to be practical.

FORM FOR CERTIFYING GRADES.

That portion of the certificate devised by Mr. Tompkins devoted
to the description of the cotton to be warehoused could be adapted
to a descriptive certificate issued by the officer who would grade
cotton offered for inspection. The first part of the Tompkins
certificate is after the usual form of warehouse documents of this
character. The form for describing the cotton passed upon follows,
and it will be observed that the grades and intermediary grades enu-
merated in the certificate number 30. This detail is doubtless fur-
pished to meet any possible condition that may arise in grading, and
not because of any existing necessity for so extended a list.

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

28

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PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON, 29

The Tompkins certificate includes all grades that are known in
the classification of cotton. Those designated as “strict” are half
grades and those designated “rarely” and “fully” are quarter
grades. In the classification made by the New York Cotton Ex-
change November 15,1911, and which remained in force until Septem-
ber 12, 1912, six full grades are designated, of which three are above
the basic grade, viz, good middling, middling fair, and fair; and
two are below basic, viz, low middling and good ordinary. In the
lower classifications no grade is given below low middling tinged,
except middling stained. The Department of Agriculture, in fixing
its types, provides for nine grades, of which four are above and
four below middling, the basic grade. In the “spot” market 13
distinct grades are generally recognized, in which are included three
half grades above and three below middling. These grades are con-
fined to what is known as white cotton, excluding those grades desig-
nated as “tinged” and “ stained.”

GRADING AND CERTIFYING.

In 1907 the Department of Commerce and Labor, through the
Bureau of Corporations and by direction of the House of Representa-
tives, made a thorough investigation of the causes of fluctuations
that had recently occurred in the price of cotton and of the methods
of cotton exchanges in dealing in futures. The result of the investi-
gation was presented to Congress. It embraces more than 1,000
printed pages and is published in five parts. In his letter, under date
of May 29, 1908, submitting parts 2 and 38, Herbert Knox Smith,
Commissioner of Corporations, said:

There should certainly be a system of uniform grades throughout the cotton
trade if possible. It would greatly simplify the business and stop a number of
abuses. The practical difficulties in the way of arriving at such a system are
considerable, and probably the best that can be done at present is to make a
persistent effort to approach gradually such an ideal as near as may be.

In the report referred to numerous men actively engaged in han-
dling cotton are quoted on the various topics discussed, and in con-
nection with classification for delivery on contracts expression favor-
able to governmental organization and direction was given by some of
the persons consulted. A merchant of Savannah, Ga., is quoted as
follows:

There is no reason why cotton should not be officially classed and weighed
bale by bale in the Same manner as the quality of naval stores in the South is
determined by official classers whose marks are not allowed to be obliterated,
or as canned goods in the North and West are labeled by Government inspec-
tors, which labels can not be effaced without leading to litigation.

A merchant of Augusta, Ga., one of the largest interior markets
in the country, and at which upward of 500,000 bales were handled
this season, said:

We should have uniform rules to conduct the cotton business from North
Carolina to Texas. We should have uniform classification, and we should have
such rules and classification made and enforced by a convention of southern
exchanges so that we would deal with the manufacturers of this country and
HKurope upon the same basis, knowing no New York or Liverpool or Bremen
rules, but announcing to the world the basis on which our product is sold. We
would then hear nothing more of New York middling, or Liverpool middling, or

Augusta or Savannah or Charleston middling, but we would have one set of
grades agreed upon and would offer our cotton for sale upon such grades,

380 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON,

UTTERANCES OF COTTON EXCHANGES.

The practicability and desirability of a uniform system of grading
and. certification have been affirmed by many representative cotton
men of the South and the plan has also received approval from
prominent members of the New York and New Orleans Cotton Ex-
changes. For many years, in order to facilitate the holding of a
stock of cotton at New York, it has been urged that the warehouse
and certifying system of that city should be extended to southern
markets under control of the New York Cotton Exchange. It was
proposed that cotton stored in southern warehouses should be sampled
when stored and the samples forwarded to New York for inspection
by the inspection bureau of the exchange. Upon certification the
cotton was to be tenderable on contracts without being brought to New
York. Several reports on this matter were made by committees of
the exchange. The advantages of the proposed plan were explained
in a report made by a special committee in 1903, in which it was
sald :

It will gradually establish a uniform grade of cotton. The certificate will
assure the buyer that the cotton is all in the warehouse as stated and that
the grade is guaranteed. Reclamations will be reduced to a minimum, espe-
cially for grade. The planter or dealer will let the cotton stay in the South
at cheap storage until he sells to mills and exporters. Duplicate samples will
enable the owuer to offer his certificated cotton in any market or to any buyer.

The buyer can take and pay for the certificates and leave the cotton where it is
till he is ready to order it elsewhere or resell it on contract.

Tt is true the purpose of extending the New York warehousing
system to the South was to promote and facilitate operations in sales
for future delivery on contracts, but the standardization proposed
in this case can be applied to grading and certifying cotton at the
ginnery, when this may be practicable, and having it stored there
and at other convenient points where suitable warehouses under re-
sponsible direction may be located. If it be practical and desirable
to grade and certify cotton stored at points of origin for the con-
venience and profit of merchants and brokers at New York or other
distant places, it would seem to be equally so to institute similar
processes for the benefit and encouragement of the producer and those
tor whom primarily the crop is intended.

July 20, 1912, at a meeting of the representatives of 41 cotton
exchanges and others interested in the marketing of cotton, at which
differences between certain European and American exchanges in
regard to arbitration were considered, the following was among the
resolutions adopted:

We recommend that all cotton interests work toward the adoption of a

standard of classification for American cotton of all growths, which shall be
made world wide.

GIN COMPRESSION AND ADEQUATE WAREHOUSES.

Warehouses of modern fireproof construction for storing baled
cotton, located at or contiguous to the ginneries and at the south
Atlantic and Gulf ports from which shipments are made, are urgently
needed. The construction of such warehouses would logically follow
the inauguration of a system of gin compression. Adequate ware-

.

_ PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 31

housing would not only safeguard the product but would be a de-
cided convenience in its transportation and contribute materially to
reduce the present charges for insurance and handling. At none of
the points of concentration, including the ports for ocean shipments,
are adequate accommodations provided for storage, and in some
cases no thought seems to have been given to this important matter,
owing, doubtless, to the prevalent belief that exposure can not dam-
age cotton. At many of the points of concentration sheds of cheap
construction are provided which afford partial protection, but at
every point in the busy season (October, November, December), when
fully one-half of the crop is in sight, the bulk of the cotton is exposed
for long periods without shelter. The illustrations accompanying
this report show the manner of exposure and the extent to which it
prevails.
WAREHOUSING BY FARMERS.

The Farmers’ Union, an organization of producers which extends
over the cotton belt and whose membership aggregates many thou-
sands, several years ago inaugurated a warehouse system, the main
purpose being to secure a minimum price by withholding cotton from
market. This object was not realized, although the warehousing has
been somewhat helpful in obtaining better prices for producers.
The movement was given liberal support by farmers and has resulted
in the construction of perhaps 1,500 warehouses, all of which are
owned and operated by the Farmers’ Union. These warehouses,
scattered over the cotton States, are of various sizes and construction,
but utterly inadequate to house even a very small fraction of the crop,
considered in the aggregate, although in particular localities the
bulk of the local product might be sheltered. This warehouse system
contemplated storing, insurance, grading, certifying, issuance of
warehouse receipt, and advancing money. Beyond securing the con-
struction of warehouses, the system has not met with the success an-
ticipated, and the officers of the Farmers’ Union are now seeking for
plans to make it more effective and profitable.

WEAKNESS OF THE SYSTEM.

One of the principal obstacles to the success of the system is the
fact that it consists of independent units, the effectiveness and in-
fluence of each being necessarily restricted to its immediate locality.
Thus the receipt issued by the warehouse for cotton held might be
accepted by a local bank, but would not be acceptable beyond the
neighborhood of the issuing warehouse. A combination of the units
and the establishment of a central body, say in each State, with
modern buildings for storing, modern appliances for economical
handling of cotton, and with abundance of physical assets, would
materially strengthen the system and extend its influence, and with
the active support of producers and wise direction by their repre-
sentatives the system would ultimately attain a standing that would
insure general recognition for its certificate in many of the principal
centers of the cotton trade. But while such combination would ex-
tend the field for operations its effectiveness would be limited, as is
the case with every private enterprise however strong financially.

31} PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.
WORK NOW PERFORMED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

The work already performed by the Government and that now in
progress with the object of improving present methods of cultivating
cotton, of safeguarding the crop, and establishing a comprehensive
system for its economical handling promises gratifying results. The
Department of Agriculture, under authority of law, with the aid of a
committee of experts representing every branch of the cotton indus-
try, established a set of standard grades, nine in number, which have
become an official standard for classification so far as the standards
have been given recognition by the exchanges. Exact duplicates of
the official grades have been prepared by the Department of Agricul-
ture. as required by the Jaw, and these are furnished at a fixed price
to cotton exchanges, libraries, schools, and others interested. The
standards have been accepted by the cotton exchanges of New Or-
leans, Galveston, Memphis, Charleston, Mobile, Natchez, Little Rock,
Macon, and St. Louis. New York has not given the standards formal
approval, but is at liberty to apply them when convenient or desir-
able. The law does not provide for compulsory adoption. ‘Those
exchanges that have not adopted the standards urge that the samples
from which the grades were made up were selected from cofton
grown in the Mississippi Valley, and that they do not accurately rep-
resent cotton grown in other sections of the country. It is admitted
that the standards have value and are helpful in classifying cotton
grown in the section from which the grades were made up, but it is
held that these grades can not so fairly be applied in determining
the quality of Atlantic States upland cotton. It should be said in this
connection, however, that during the first year practically all the
cotton used by the Department of Agriculture in making up the
types came from the upland districts of Louisiana, Mississippi,
Texas, and Oklahoma. All the collections of grades now issued by
the department contain Atlantic States upland cotton.

UTILITY OF OFFICIAL STANDARDS.

Established grades have special value with exchanges and local
merchants in settlement of disputes, but producers contend that the
official standards are of little practical value to them, as they are still
obliged to dispose of their cotton under the methods that have always
obtained and to the same interested expert buyers, whose judgment
they are forced to accept. An active market, with lively competition
among buyers, enables the producer to secure better prices, but as a
rule, in absence of uniformity of quotations in the three principal
markets, New York, New Orleans, and Liverpool, and inability to
accurately class his cotton, the producer is obliged to sell at the price
fixed by the expert. It is suggested in connection with an official
standard for classification that it is but a short step to the appoint-
ment of Government officials to determine and certify the grade and
quality of the cotton, for the protection of the producer and the benefit
of the final purchaser who buys for consumption. In brief, it is
contended that the Government standards advantage the large class
that stand between the farm and the mill but contribute little, if
any, assistance to the producer.

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 83
CULTIVATION OF COTTON BY TYPES.

The demonstration work being done by the Department of Agri-
ture and the plans in formulation for its extension are certain to
prove of the highest value to producers of cotton. Under existing
conditions many farmers aim to produce the largest quantity of cot-
ton regardless of quality. The farmer is fully cognizant of the fact
that different values attach to different grades, but has not the expert
knowledge required to differentiate between them, and therefore has
no refuge against the trained expert who analyzes and fixes a price
for his cotton. By experimentation the Department of Agriculture
has demonstrated that certain types of cotton can be more success-
fully grown in certain localities as regards both quantity and quality.
Therefore efforts will be made to induce farmers to plant the type
that will bring them the best and most profitable return. By this
plan types would tend to become associated with certain geographical
sections, farmers would acquire thorough familiarity with all the
qualities of their product, incentive to still higher achievement would
be incited, and the producer would be freed in a large measure from
the workings of the present intricate and arbitrary system of classi-

fication.
BENEFITS ACCRUING TO FARMERS,

The benefits that would accrue to the farmer and advantages that
would come to trade generally from the cultivation of selected types
in particular sections and by entire communities must be apparent to
all who will give the matter serious consideration. This system of
cultivation has been adopted by individual producers in several of
the cotton-growing States with beneficial results, notably in South
Carolina and Texas. In the former State the authorities are direct-
ing the attention of farmers to the importance of cultivating certain
types. Col. E. J. Watson, commissioner of agriculture, briefly refers
to the development of varieties of upland long-staple cotton for plant-
ing, in all sections of the State, in his annual report covering opera-
tions for the calendar year 1911. The commissioner says:

During the past year experiments with these varieties of cotton were extended
and staple was developed from 14 to 1% inches in length, with the yield three
times as great as Sea Island at a less cost of production and a yield per acre
practically equal to any of the varieties of upland cotton. The plants also
developed drought-resistant and early maturing qualities that were scarcely
expected. * * * For all of this class of cotton grown in this State this
year prices averaging approximately 174 cents per pound have been paid. There
is now a great demand for the selected seed in order to enable the producer to
raise this staple and deal directly with manufacturers at home.

The results obtained in South Carolina from growing selected
types accentuate the wisdom of the Department of Agriculture in
pushing its plans for the cultivation throughout the cotton belt of
types best adapted to particular sections.

COOPERATION OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS IN WORK.

It is perhaps outside the province of this inquiry to discuss policies
that should govern and methods that should be followed in the cul-
tivation of cotton, yet the production of the crop is so closely allied

34 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

with the handling after it has been gathered that consideration may :

with propriety be given the efforts being made by the Department
of Agriculture in this direction. The application of scientific meth-
ods to cultivation will undoubtedly result not only in producing
more and better cotton, but in the uplift of the farmer materially
and morally, the elimination of much of the wastefulness that attends
the present system of marketing, and in the promotion of trade at
home and abroad in this great national staple. The growing of cot-
ton of certain types in particular localities in which climatic condi-
tions are favorable to such types is not only rational and logical, but
will prove educational, and therefore highly profitable to the farmer.
The fact that the general average output per acre is ordinarily about
180 pounds of lint cotton, and that, except in the case of a sea island
growth, it is largely without definite quality or character, furnishes
strong and sufficient reason for remedial action. It is believed by
many who have given thought to this general subject that such action
can be best inaugurated by the Government through the Departments
of Agriculture and of Commerce and Labor, the former directing
effort to the adoption of better methods of cultivation and the latter
to the expeditious and economical handling of the cotton when ready
for market.
FORCEFUL ILLUSTRATIONS.

Numerous illustrations could be cited to establish what can be done
with proper cultivation. The Department of Agriculture has given
a number of practical demonstrations, and the agricultural depart-
ments of several of the States have given similar demonstrations. As
previously explained, demonstrations have been made at various
points in the cotton belt of the value of planting certain types of
cotton. As a result of these demonstrations numerous cases are re-
ported of largely increased output of a high class of cotton, thus
establishing that the yield can be increased without undue increase
in the cost of production. Evidence that more and better cotton can
be produced by improved methods of cultivation is furnished by sales
made this season at Clarksville, Tex. What is known as Red River
County seed is largely planted in that State. This type has been
found to produce the best results, and Texas planters are being urged
to employ it. This class of cotton sold at Clarksville for 18 cents per
pound because of its staple, while cotton of equal grade brought the
same day only 10 cents.

According to the revised estimate of the Bureau of Statistics of
the Department of Agriculture, the area planted in cotton in 1911
was 36,681,000 acres, of which 636,000 acres were abandoned, leaving
36,045,000 acres as the area from which the crop was harvested. The
average production of lint per acre in 1911 was 208 pounds, as com-
pared with 171 pounds in 1910. The last crop not only exceeded
that of any previous year in aggreate weight and in average yield per
acre, but prices obtained were generally satisfactory to the growers.

GRADING AT THE GIN.

_ There is reason for believing that an organization on lines suggested
in this report would not only tend to cure the evils described but

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON, 35

would be the active means of removing other evils that are the out-
growth of the present system. Moreover, it would tend to improve
the quality, increase the value, and guard the integrity of the cotton
crop by eliminating the nondescript grades, few of which are fit for
spinning and many of which would find their way to paper mills and
similar utilities. Knowing he would get a better price for good
quality and that his cotton would be accurately graded, the farmer
would be impelled to grow the higher types and would exercise greater
care in picking and proper vigilance in protecting the cotton after
leaving the ginnery. Cultivation by communities of types best
adapted to their several localities, compression at the ginnery, grad-
ing and certifying by competent authority, go to the root of the
existing evils.

PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION BY COTTON CLUBS,

The Department of Agriculture contemplates entering a new line
of activity to improve both the quantity and quality of the cotton
crop and to educate the farmer in the fundamentals of growing and
grading the staple by the establishment of cotton clubs similar to the
corn clubs inaugurated with success several years ago. Boys consti-
- tute the bulk of the membership of the corn clubs and it is proposed
to form cotton clubs from the more advanced and successful of
these boys.

The establishment of corn clubs demonstrated to southern agricul-
turists the possibilities of corn growing in the South and stimulated
an interest in agriculture, especially the production of home supplies.
Those in charge of the Farmers’ Cooperative Demonstration Work
believe that the best of the corn-club boys can now progress from corn
to cotton production, thus widening their useful knowledge and giy-
ing them the basis for a thorough system of agriculture. The lessons
ef preparation, seed selection, and intensive cultivation will be con-
tinued as applied to cotton, and in boll-weevil sections the boys will
be shown the department’s methods of raising cotton under boll-weevil
conditions.

Members of cotton clubs will be expected to work at least 2 acres,
and practically every boy will thus grow enough seed cotton to make
a bale. It is not so important that a large number of boys be enrolled
the first year as that every boy’s crop be a first-class demonstration
By the same kind of persistent work that has been done in the corn
clubs the boy can grow at a good profit, even in the worst infected
boll-weevil sections, a large yield of improved cotton. This has
already been done in Louisiana and Texas.

It is expected that the boys will study grading and standardization,
so that they will be able to classify and mark their crops intelligently.
With the theoretical knowledge acquired at the State agricultural
colleges and farmers’ institutes, these practical demonstrations by the
Department of Agriculture through its well-equipped field agencies
will in a comparatively short time qualify the farmer to obtain the
very best results from cultivation and enable him to determine with
spproximate accuracy the quality and value of his crop.

CLASSIFYING AND GRADING.

The classification and grading of cotton is an important, compre-
hensive, and intricate business, requiring thorough knowledge of the
material, long training, skill, and good judgment. Ordinarily those
engaged in the business of handling cotton can determine with ap-
proximate accuracy the general character or grade, but for the pur-
pose of spinning yarn the judgment of the expert is essential, length,
strength, and fineness of the staple being important factors with the
spinner. The grade of cotton in the main is determined by the degree
of color and the quantity of foreign matter which it contains, such as
dirt, leaf, etc., conditions that are readily recognized upon inspection
by the buyer. Length and texture of staple, however, are not given
as great consideration in the initial dealings as their importance
would seem to require, nor are they considered by the classification
committee of the New York Cotton Exchange unless there be a
specific request for their inclusion.

In connection with the subject matter of this report the classifica-
tion and grading of cotton as now performed has special interest and

a brief description of methods that obtain may prove helpful in

studying the proposition to introduce a new system of grading that
will have the authority and stamp of the Government. The diffi-
culties that attend grading are plainly set forth in the report of the
Bureau of Corporations on Cotton Exchanges. In Part I of that re-
port it is explained that the classification of cotton can not be per-
formed with absolute accuracy; that no two experts would class a
large lot of cotton of assorted grades exactly alike, and that the same
expert, classing a large lot of cotton twice, probably would not re-
turn exactly identical classification. The report continues:

METHOD OF CLASSIFICATION.

The classification of cotton is almost entirely by the eye. ‘There are no
mechanical means for performing this work. The differences of cleanliness,
amount of leaf, and amount of color are so gradual that it is exceedingly diffi-
cult, in classing cotton into the half grades, to determine exactly where each
individual bale should be placed. The difficulty increases as the grade of the
cotton falls below middling. With the grades of middling and above, it is a
much simpler matter to class cotton with reasonable accuracy. What might
appear to be very unimportant conditions exert a material effect upon classifi-
cation. Thus, a passing cloud may easily influence a classer, quite uncon-
sciously, almost to the extent of a quarter of a grade. When snow is on the
ground it is very difficult to class cotton if the light is reflected upon the cotton
or into the eyes of the classer. Still again, very few bales of cotton are exactly
uniform in character, so that if two small samples are taken from different
parts of the same bale they might easily show a decided variation. It is cus-
tomary in the New York market, where two samples are drawn from each bale,
to reject the higher sample. Even a single sample of a few ounces, however,
may not be absolutely uniform in character. When it is stated that a bale of
cotton weighing, say, 500 pounds represents approximately the yield of 2%
acres of land, and that picking, on account of the low-grade labor employed,

36

4
’

}
;
)

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 37

is often carelessly done, it is easy to see how classification based on a sample
of only a few ounces may give rise to much dissatisfaction.

What might appear to be very unimportant conditions exert a material effect
upon classification. Thus, a passing cloud may influence a classer, quite un-
consciously, almost to the extent of a quarter grade. When snow is on the
ground it is very difficult to class cotton if the light is reflected upon the cotton
or into the eyes of the classer.

RELATIVE VALUE OF GRADES IN THE NEW YORK EXCHANGE,

The basic quality of cotton is known as middling, and all quo-
tations and sales are made on and from that basis, Classification is
made and grades are established by a committee of experts employed
by the New York Cotton Exchange, and the action of this committee
is given recognition by the trade and governs all deliveries and sales,
whether “spot ” or “futures.” The classification is made in Septem-
ber and November of each year, and the latter stands good until
September 12 of the year next following. The difference in values
of the several grades is fixed by the classification committee. The
price varies according to the supply and demand, but the values
fixed by the committee for grades above and below middling are
plus or minus the market price for middling and are permanent
for the time being. The differential is established by points, each
point being the equivalent of one one-hundredth of a cent. Thus, if
cotton be quoted at 10 cents per pound, fully middling, being
rated 15 points above middling, would command 15 cents per hun-
dred pounds or 75 cents per bale over a bale of middling. On the
other hand, for barely middling, an “off” grade, the price would
be 17 points below, or 85 cents per bale less than middling.

The several grades established by the New York Cotton Exchange
for the year ended September, 1912, and their relative values are
given in the table following. The grades above middling are “on”
or plus, and those below are “off” or minus the current price for
middling, the basic quality. A column is added showing the in-
creased value attaching to the bale of 500 pounds according to the
differentials. The price for middling is placed in the table at 12
cents per pound, to which the differential on the basis of each point
being equivalent to one one-hundredth of a cent, should be added.

Increase (+
Points or de-
Grades. on (+) or | crease (—)
off (—). in value of
bale.

Fe ee eee ee ee kag ld aia ae waco see iSee kd ad eee ecccedecacen- 415 +$8.75
Sig SEC AS I ne +150 + 7.50
NORE SE LEIP aE Pe ee oS ane wuinc cance ole < cue one e Gales wenclanacececces +130 + 6.50
2 eli EAnd SOG cae Ss (2 SS eee ee Se ee eee ee ee ee + 80 + 4.00
fe one, Tn GU ae ee eee ee es + 68 + 3.40
(Ph Tint 25. co ah eal oe ae A oe ee eee + 56 + 2.80
LBPDOL? Brg! TNT G Te a oe ee eee ee + 40 + 2.15
pli bin FEELS TIE LoS 2 Fa SEAS SESE GER E EG SEO ESEH 5 Se ieee ae an + 30 + 1.50
MSRP UBAIALE EDIE oe on Sane Sen conga sa caeeioe Sane cece ecanecececeeee + 15 + .75
PebbyEpIainGs (Mo eants|PEE POUNG), 205 l one dette n ke ee dn css wc e5 3} ste wen ences |ecescn ness BS eee
LEapite irG Gia. gis 052 ee ee ae ee al — .85
Piper ale Mmrie THD ay eee ee ne a oan Unies eaten es -e Ses ae one ne Wee noon nee seem cnoe=- — 35 — 1.75
SDLSy NG GET SS a a eee — 55 — 2.75
Wok? TS Syme 08S SS ee Bf 2B ee ee ee — 80 — 4.00
SURG? PPE Gi DER ee ee ee ee —140 = fe =

EMCI ARI ree reo. Doce to os cles ote ce Goad oesensbeccensanmerces —210 —10.

38 PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON.

The foregoing grades constitute what is known as white cotton.
Following are the “tinged” and “stained” grades, the basis being
middling, 12 cents per pound, as in the former table:

Increase (+)

Points or de-
Grades. on (+) or | crease (—)
off (—). in value of
bale.
Strict/good middling tingedeee as. see eeeeeesceme nstne eee tee eiatee ester + 43 +$2.15
Good middling tinged (sameias) middling) joe. oe oo oc ae eine iene since comes e « oiel|emise cen ee See eee
Strict.middling tinged 22.25 222 scecak sae aces bes ot tse ee enicieee ee sere eee eee — 15 — .7
Middlingitinged ss tse sec case me sena ease ne ne nese ek re eee an easter arc — 30 — 1.50
Stricthlowamiddling tinged fo cece aescemcee ee non cece ee eteaaeee seese eee — 80 — 4.00
Lowimiddline tinsedvas asso an oe aes ere bee einee ee tee esac eee eae ee —100 — 5.00
MiG Ging staitie dem areeee eee eee eee ee meisiee cnet ebeteise emits eee tetieemere tacts — 90 — 4,50

Under the rules of the New York Cotton Exchange delivery of
cotton purchased for future delivery may be made at seller’s op-
tion on three days’ notice to buyer. Delivery of any grade may
be made from good ordinary (white) to fair, inclusive; and if tinged,
not below low middling tinged; if stained, not below middling
stained. The price is for middling with additions or reductions for
other grades according to the rates existing on the afternoon of the
day previous to the date of notice of delivery. Liverpool classifica-
tion for middling and all grades above is about one-fourth grade
lower than New York classification, and for grades below middling
one-fourth to one-half grade higher than New York.

GOVERNMENT TYPES.

The nine types selected by the Department of Agriculture, begin-
ning with the highest, are: Fair, strict good middling, good middling,
strict middling, middling (basis), strict low middling, low middling,
strict good ordinary, and good ordinary. These types were estab-
lished by a committee of experts in accordance with the act of Con-
egress providing for the work, and, as explained in another part of
this report, are generally accepted by those actively engaged in the
buying and selling of cotton. They are not intended to determine
length, strength, and fineness of staple, but to determine color and
cleanliness of the cotton. They have special value in making com-
parisons to decide types, and are used much in the same manner as
samples of fabrics are employed in “matching.” Objection is made
that while these Government types have value in determining the
general quality of cotton grown in the section from which the stand-
ard types were taken, they can not be used with accuracy in classify-
ing cotton grown in other sections.

The confusion in standards of various markets is shown in the
following statement from a North Carolina merchant which, it
should be mentioned, was made before the Government types were
selected :

Cotton from different sections represents different values. For instance,
middling cotton from Mississippi is given preference over middling cotton from
Georgia, and middling cotton from Georgia will bring a higher price than mid-
dling cotton from North Carolina. That is owing not only to a difference in

staple but in the general character of the cotton—what we call the “ body ”
of the cotton. * * * The Mississippi cotton, for instance, has the heaviest

|
|
.
:

—

PACKING AND MARKETING OF COTTON. 39

_ body and the strongest fiber of the cotton of any State east of the Mississippi
River, unless it be Louisiana. Georgia cotton has about the same body as
Carolina cotton, but better staple. But the grade of the cotton is not deter-
mined by the staple nor the body of the cotton, but by its character as to
cleanliness and color.

COTTON REQUIRED BY MANUFACTURERS.

Each manufacturer requires a certain grade and type of cotton to
produce his particular class of goods. When a manufacturer makes
a small range in numbers of yarn, or is confined to one or two dif-
ferent grades of fabrics, only one grade of cotton will be needed.
When, however, a manufacturer makes a wide range of yarns and
fabrics, different grades of cotton are frequently used. In the first
case it will be necessary for the manufacturer to have as nearly as
possible even-running ‘bales. To have a mixture of cotton—that is,
to mix the longer with the shorter'staple—would cause a considerable
amount of trouble, particularly if the cotton should be mixed to-
gether. Any mixing of long and short staple would mean a loss of
production with an additional amount of waste in the making of
yarns. This occurs in mills where the mixing of cotton does not
receive the particular attention which should be given it. Inability
to mix and successfully spin cotton of different grades and lengths
-is due to the fact that the rolls in the different machines which have
to draw out the cotton into thread travel at different speeds, the back
_ roll traveling slower than the front roll. These rolls are also set a
certain distance apart, according to the length of the staple. If the
rolls should be set to spin 1-inch cotton and 14-inch should be used,
the rolls would break the fibers, and this would have a bad effect in
the making of yarn. On the other hand, if the rolls should be set
for 14-inch and seven-eighths or 1 inch cotton should be used, many
fibers would drop between the rolls and in this way there would be
much waste and loss. Where the manufacturer makes a wide range
of yarns and fabrics, such a mixing of cottons of extreme different
lengths is almost unheard of. Therefore, should the manufacturer
get different grades in any lot of cotton, the bales would be separated
according to grade, and used according to the staple required for a
certain yarn or fabric.

LESSON FROM THE FIGURES.

The foregoing brief outline of the methods that obtain in classi-
fication and grading of cotton will convey an idea of the intricacies
of the system and of the difficulties that confront the ordinary farmer
in seeking to obtain a fair and proper price for his product. It has
been pertinently said that in the South “ cotton is bought, not sold.”
The expert buyer, familiar with the relative value of grades, decides
upon the quality of the cotton offered and the farmer often has no
means of ascertaining the correctness of the buyer’s judgment.

As may be seen from the foregoing table, which is given to illus-
trate the different values of the various grades according to the
classification and grades established by the New York exchange for
the period stated, the difference in a single grade above middling may
have a money value of $2.80 per bale, and if the difference should be
_ two grades “on” the money value may be $6.50 per bale.

@)

FIG. 1—BALE AS RECEIVED AT THE COMPRESS FROM THE GINNERY
AFTER BEING CUT AND SAMPLED.

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tae
Peay
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FIG. 2.—BALE AFTER COMING FROM THE COMPRESS;
SAMPLE HOLE COVERED WITH A PATCH AND THE
EIGHT HOOPS TRIMMED.

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‘V5 “HVNNVAVS LV SGYVA NadO NI GAYOLS NOLLOO—S “SIs

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fe or a le

FIG. 8.—GIN-COMPRESSED BALES SHOWING CONTRAST IN QUALITY
OF BAGGING.

FIG. 9—GIN-COMPRESSED BALES COVERED WITH COTTON BAGGING.

‘SaqVa NOLLOO GaSSauYdWOO0SY GNY ‘GaSSaddNOO-NID ‘NVILd ADS “XOE-NIDS—OL “Sid

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