BUREAU OF MARKETS AND CROt ESTIMATES. 521 



must be classified by officers of the Department of Agriculture. In 

 addition, the rules and regulations under the act provide that any 

 owner of cotton who has under consideration the advisability of 

 tendering it for delivery on a section 5 contract may secure the 

 opinion of the board of cotton examiners as to the classification of 

 samples of such cotton, by submitting the samples to the board and 

 ])aying the required fee. The informal classification does not obviate 

 the necessity for the regular classification if the cotton is presented 

 for certification for delivery. 



During the year 234.148 bales of cotton were classified by the 

 boards of examiners at New York and New Orleans in the regular 

 classification work; 43,384 bales were resubmitted to the boards for 

 review; and in the review the classification of 3,724 bales was 

 changed. In the preliminary sample classification work 7,711 

 samples were classified. 



During the year the sum of $87,902.98 was collected as classifica- 

 tion fees and from sales of loose cotton, and was deposited to the 

 credit of the revolving fund maintained for the conduct of the work. 

 Disbursements during the year amounted to $73,245.75. Xo changes 

 were made in the fees. 



FUTURE AND SPOT MARKET INVESTIGATIOX.S AND COTTON PRICE QUOTATIONS. 



The division leader was assisted in this work by A. M. Agelasto 

 and B. B. Oastler, 



The purpose of this work is to secure accurate quotations on cotton 

 and give them the widest possible publicity. The cotton price quota- 

 tion service has been maintained in the five districts for which 

 Charlotte. Atlanta, Memphis. New Orleans, and Dallas are head- 

 quarters. During the period of heavy movement of cotton to market, 

 C)ctober to March, a separate district was made of the State of 

 Oklahoma, Avith headquarters at Oklahoma City. Reports of pur- 

 chases and sales of cotton were gathered from country buyers, country 

 merchants, dealers, brokers, commission merchants, factors, mills, 

 and others who buy or sell cotton in important country markets and 

 concentration points throughout the belt. On the laasis of these 

 reports weekly bulletins were prepared and published, showing the 

 prices at which the various grades of cotton were actually bought 

 and sold. The information contained in the bulletins can be obiamed 

 by telephone and telegraph by any person who requests the service 

 and pays the transmission expense involved. 



Several newspapers and periodicals in the South, having a com- 

 bined circulation of over a million copies, are cooperating in this 

 work by publishing each week reports of sales of cotton and prices 

 at interior markets, which reports are furnished to them by the field 

 offices of the bureau. In this way the quotation service is made avail- 

 able to a very large number. 



In addition to the weekly bulletins, information regarding cotton 

 prices and the cotton market in general was broadcasted daily by 

 radio during the last half of the year. Plans are at present being 

 made for the more extensive use of the radio for broadcasting infor- 

 mation in the future. 



