872 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



One great advantage of thus compressing it at the gin i& 

 the more complete and careful covering of the bale with 

 new, closely woven cloth (Fig. 163). On the other hand, 



FIG. 163. BALES FROM A GIN COMPRESS. 



the ordinary compress utilizes a part of the coarse, heavy, 

 and usually cut or torn covering that was originally placed 

 on the bale at the gin. 



346. Commercial classes or grades of cotton. Cotton 

 is bought and sold according to quality or grade. When 

 farmers sell, unless the number of bales be very large, a 

 decision as to the grade or quality is usually made by the 

 buyer, the seller being ignorant, as a rule, of the exact 

 quality of cotton that he is selling. To better enable 

 farmers to know what grade of cotton they sell, most 

 agricultural colleges in the cotton-belt now employ ex- 



