464 



ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The stock of certificated cotton in New York averaged Strict Mid- 

 dling or better, practically^ no low grade cotton having been listed. 

 Much of the cotton delivered on contract during the year was being 

 redelivered and had been passed upon by the department previously. 



The following table presents in convenient form, by months, the 

 number of original disputes and the number of replacement disputes 

 received and the number of bales involved : 



Disputes referred to the Department of Agriculture under the cotton-futures 



act, year ended June 30, 1917. 



The total sum collected as costs for the determination of the dis- 

 putes heard during the fiscal year was $1,664.35, of which $838.72 

 was assessed against the complainants and $82r).63 against the re- 

 spondents. All this fund was covered into the Treasury of the 

 United States in accordance with the provisions of the act. 



PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PRACTICAL FORMS OF THE OFI'ICIAL 

 COTTON STANDARDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The preparation and distribution of practical forms of the Official 

 Cotton Standards of the United States is under the direction of 

 Mr. Fred Taylor. The number of such sets prepared and sold or 

 allotted during the fiscal year was as follows: Sets sold to the trade 

 in the United States, 189; sets sold in foreign countries, 30; frac- 

 tional sets sold in the United States, 44; sets furnished to demon- 

 stration agents in the United States, 125 ; total received from sale of 

 sets, $2,358. In order to maintain accuracy in the preparation of 

 these sets, the reference set was frequently checked against the 

 original set and the sets kept in vacuum. 



It has been difficult during the past season to purchase the lower 

 grades of cotton suitable for the work on the standards. As a result 

 many bales purchased could not be used and $24,487.40 was received 

 for such rejected cotton when sold. 



The standards have been adopted by 32 of the leading cotton mar- 

 kets of the United States and are used extensively by the trade. As 

 previously stated, the Rotterdam Cotton Exchange adopted the stand- 

 ards during the past season. The total distribution shows 843 full 

 sets and 115 fractional sets of the white standards, and 73 full and 9 

 fractional sets of the colored standards in use on June 30, 1917. 



Inspection of 347 of the sets of white standards during the latter 

 part of the year has shown 1,728 boxes in good condition, 635 entire 



