6 CIRCULAR NO. 109, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



A number of members provided cotton in accordance with tins invi- 

 tation. It is safe to say that the committee's attempt to make a set 

 of grades that would apply to the whole of the American cotton belt 

 was so sincere and so adequately backed up by suitable material 

 from which to prepare the grades that the result was all that could 

 possibly have been expected. 



During the past few months an effort has been made to ascertain 

 what proportion of the 1912 crop is classifiable on the basis of the 

 present official grades. From a collection of many hundreds of sam- 

 ples taken at random from various parts of the cotton belt, very 

 little cotton has been secured which was not readily classifiable on 

 the basis of the present official grades. 



There is a tendency toward the increased use of cleaning machines 

 as adjuncts to ginning machinery. . These cleaning machines remove 

 trash and dirt and thus raise the grade of the cotton, so that in the 

 future we may expect more and more cotton to fall into the higher 

 grades, where there is less difference between the cottons from various 

 parts of the country. This tendency toward cleaner cotton will 

 doubtless facilitate the use of the official grades. 



It is important to keep in mind that many people, in the practice 

 of grading cotton, are influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by 

 other factors than the color and the amount of trash. Where such a 

 practice prevails, a sample of cotton that on the basis of color and 

 trash would pass as official middling, may pass as of a higher grade, 

 if the staple is unusually good. It is believed that such grading can 

 result only in confusion and that length of staple should be entirely 

 dissociated from the official grades. 



FURTHER WORK IN CONTEMPLATION. 



The officers of the department are carefully investigating the 

 various problems connected with the question of cotton standardiza- 

 tion, and whenever the time seems ripe for further steps toward the 

 establishment of universal cotton grades the department will be 

 equipped and ready to give all the assistance possible. 



If the plan of establishing standards for the grading of American 

 cotton is to be brought to a successful issue, it is of the utmost 

 importance that the foundations upon which these standards rest 

 shall be secure. The firmest foundation possible will be that which 

 is in thorough accord with present practices, and the wish of the 

 officers of the department is that no mistakes be made in this funda- 

 mental work. If a foundation can be laid which meets with univer- 

 sal approval there is not the slightest doubt that there can be built 

 upon it a system of cotton standardization which will be of great 

 service throughout the cotton industry. 



[Cir. 109] 



