A STORY OF COTTON 37 



rain, is sealed at the top and the bale continues to absorb and 

 absorb, inwardly, by capillary attraction. 



After the bale is caked on the surface and the moisture is 

 confined and heated, what is known, ordinarily, as mildew 

 begins to manifest itself. 



The points in the bale below the caked surface, that are 

 affected and have become damaged in this manner, begin to 

 heat very much, all the fibres begin to rot, and the bale will 

 still keep heating at these points more and more, until the 

 absolute destruction of the fibre has taken place, when the 

 portion, so diseased, will then quickly cool. 



The portion of the bale that has sulTered this deterioration, 

 will, in ALL such cases, be so inferior in grade that, when 

 removed, the diseased portion will not be considered even as 

 desirable as "PAPER STOCK." 



It is usual, and it is a well known fact, that, in an AVERAGE 

 COTTON SEASON, thousands upon thousands of bales are 

 allowed to deteriorate in the manner above described, and, 

 eventually, when this damaged cotton is removed, the loss 

 in cotton sustained by SOME ONE, usually the producer, 

 amounts to MILLIONS upon MILLIONS and MILLIONS of 

 dollars. 



In fact, were the amount of money, that is lost and wasted 

 in any single cotton season, be assembled into one large figure, 

 that is due solely to the deterioration of cotton in bales, by 

 allowing these bales to be exposed to contact with water, the 

 assembled figure, would be large enough to pay OUTRIGHT, 

 for the construction of sufi'icient LARGE and SMALL ware- 

 houses to properly house, and prevent the damage caused 

 through the exposure of cotton to the elements. 



Many public warehousemen, who contract to store and 

 handle cotton, do, during a congested season, place the cotton 

 in an open field, or in a street near their warehouses, and 

 allow% in an almost criminal manner, the cotton to damage for 

 which, they, the worehousemen, are paid storage and have 

 agreed to protect. 



Railroads should be compelled by law to receive cotton on 

 dry, covered platforms. 



