BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS. 149 



Algodonero de Barcelona, Vereeniging voor den Katoenhandel te 

 Kotterdam, and the British Federation of Master Cotton Spinners' 

 Associations. Agreements are pending with the Association Coton- 

 niere de Belgique of Ghent and the Associazione Contoniera Ital^ana 

 of Milan. 



As a result of the adoption of universal standards, international 

 cotton business will be greatly simplified and the cause of disputes 

 largely eliminated. The same standards will now be applied to 

 American cotton throughout its course from the farm to the factory 

 in any part of the world. The adoption of universal standards will 

 shorten the path between the farmer and the spinner, will increase 

 confidence among members of the trade and should reduce handling 

 charges with ultimate benefit to both producer and consumer. 



HEAVY DEMAND FOR COPIES OF OFFICIAL STANDARDS. 



During the fiscal year 1923, $30,339.80 was collected from the sale 

 and revision of the practical forms of the official cotton standards 

 and covered into the United States Treasury as miscellaneous re- 

 ceipts. The proceeds of the sales for the fiscal year 1922 amounted 

 to only $8,603.80. Up to Jyne 30, 1923, copies of the official cotton 

 standards had been distributed as follows: Full white sets, 1,498; 

 fractional white sets, 1,13G; full color sets, 295; fractional color sets, 

 341; American Egyptian sets, 123; Sea Island sets, 20; full staple 

 sets, 48; additional staple types, 2,297. It is expected that the de- 

 mand for these standards will be very large during the current year. 



CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON CONTINUES SELF-SUPPORTING. 



All cotton intended for delivery on future contracts is classified 

 by officials of the Department of Agriculture, under an amendment 

 to the United States cotton futures act. During the past year in 

 the regular classification work 60,823 bales of cotton were classified 

 by the Board of Cotton Examiners at New York and 85,278 bales 

 by the board at New Orleans. At New York 3,252 bales were sub- 

 mitted a second time for review and in the review the classification 

 of 396 bales was changed. At New Orleans 1,528 bales were sub- 

 mitted to the board a second time for review and in the review the 

 classification of 352 bales was changed. In addition, in the prelimi- 

 nary sample classification work, 3,871 samples were classed by the 

 board at New York and 1,260 by the board at New Orleans. 



The sum of $45,320.11 was collected as classification fees, including 

 the proceeds from sales of loose cotton during the year, and was 

 deposited to the credit of the revolving fund maintained for the con- 

 duct of the work. The classification work continues to be self-sup- 

 porting and the fees are increased or decreased as the condition of 

 the revolving fund warrants. Only slight changes in the fees were 

 made during the year, the principal one being the elimination of the 

 minimum of $2.50 for any lot. 



TESTS TO DETERMINE SPINNING VALUE OF COTTON. 



Investigations were made during the past fiscal year (1) to deter- 

 mine the comparative spinning value of superior varieties of cotton 

 grown under weevil conditions in the Southeastern States, crop of 

 1921; (2) to determine the spinning value of cotton exposed to coun- 

 try damage; (3) to determine the comparative spinning value of 



