HARVESTING AND MARKETING COTTON 127 



has some advantages, but there is much room 

 for improvement. There should be some uni- 

 form system of grading and storing cotton in 

 warehouses until a sufficient amount is collected 

 to justify the large buyer to classify and bid on 

 the entire lot. The average farmer and local 

 merchant know but little about grading cotton, 

 consequently, nearly all the cotton in smaller 

 markets is sold at about the same price, re- 

 gardless of staple or grade. 



The following table shows the official classi- 

 fication of cotton grades established by the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, with the approximate difference 

 in value per pound between grades: 



Middling fair .... ic above middling 



Strict good middling . . fc " " 



Good middling .... ftc " 



Strict middling ... ic " " 



Middling ..... Basis 



Strict low middling . . ic below middling 



Low middling .... * to f c " 



Strict good ordinary . . to ic " 



Good ordinary .... lA to lAc " 



Mr. D. E. Earle, expert in cotton grading, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, in an address 



