522 ANNUAL, REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE OFFICIAL COTTON STANDARDS. 



The division leader was assisted in this work by H. C. Slade. 

 The number of practical forms of the official cotton standards pre- 

 pared and sold to the trade during the year were as follows: 



Seventy-six full sets for grade and color for American upland cotton; 199 

 fractional sets for grade and color for American upland cotton ; 10 full sets 

 for grade for American Egyptian cotton ; 4 fractional sets for grade for Ameri- 

 can Egyptian cotton ; 6 full sets for grade for Sea Island cotton ; 13 full sets 

 for length of staple : 456 separate types for length of staple in addition to the 

 full sets. 



To meet a definitely established need of the trade, the Secretary of 

 Agriculture on August 4, 1921, promulgated standards, represented 

 by physical types, for the staple lengths Ij^ inches, 1^="^ inches, and 

 l^^^ inches. A full set of the official cotton standards for length of 

 staple for which physical types now exist consists of the following 

 12 lengths, expressed in inches: f, J, 1, l^V, H, IfV? li, l-fV? If' if; 

 If, and If. The descriptive standards for the other lengths of 

 staple remain unchanged. During the months of March, April, and 

 May an inspection was made of the sets held by various markets in 

 the South, and numerous cancellations were found necessary. 



Acting favorably upon this bureau's recommendations, the Secre- 



.tary of Agriculture on July 26, 1922, promulgated new standards 



for grade and color for American upland cotton, new standards for 



American Egyptian cotton, and new descriptive standards for 



spotted, light stained, and gray upland cotton. 



During the fiscal year the sum of $8,603.80 was collected from the 

 sale and revision of practical forms of the standards, which amount 

 was covered into the Treasury' as miscellaneous receipts. In addition 

 the sum of $18,582.79 was received from sales of loose and rejected 

 cotton, and was deposited to the credit of the revolving fund estab- 

 lished and maintained for the purchase of cotton for use in prepar- 

 ing standards. 



INVESTIGATION AND DEMONSTRATION OF COTTON STANDARDS. 



The division leader was assisted in this work by George Butter- 

 worth. 



The principal activities of this project were conducted in coopera- 

 tion with the project cotton-marketing demonstrations. The leader 

 of the project was furloughed for about six months during the year 

 to the AVar Finance Corporation, to supervise the classification of 

 American-Egyptian cotton on which loans were requested from the 

 War Finance Corporation. This work was done at Phoenix, Ariz. 



A careful study of American Egyptian cotton of the growths of 

 1920 and 1921 was made at Phoenix, and it was found that there 

 had been a decided change in the color of the cotton since the promul- 

 gation of the original standards in 1918. Accordingly, the bureau 

 recommended that the standards be changed so as to make them more 

 fully representative of recent crops, and on July 26, 1922, the Secre- 

 tary promulgated the new standards which will become effective on 

 August 1, 1923. 



Methods are being considered for the determining of exact strength 

 of staple, and a mechanical test which will be a positive determina- 



