HARVESTING AND MARKETING COTTON 129 



If some working system of warehouses could 

 be organized and maintained on a business 

 basis, it would perhaps be the most economi- 

 cal way of handling the cotton crop. Mana- 

 gers of these houses could collect and classify 

 cotton and sell direct to the large buyer. This 

 would enable the manufacturer to pay more 

 on an average for cotton, since he is thus assured 

 of getting large quantities of a product uniform 

 in grade. 



The custom of holding cotton for a bet- 

 ter price, in the meantime leaving it out 

 of doors and unprotected, is not profit- 

 able. The actual damage to the cotton is 

 often greater than any increase in price that 

 may be obtained. 



The old custom of marketing the cotton crop 

 through the commission merchants has almost 

 been discontinued. This method always placed 

 the farmer at the mercy of the buyer, and by 

 the time commission, storage, insurance, and 

 other fixed charges were deducted, less was 

 realized for the cotton than if it had been sold 

 in the local market. 



In some places the farmers market their 

 cotton by selling in the seed to the public ginner, 



