A STORY OF COTTON 



The six ounces are then handed to the purchaser, who imme- 

 diately places these SPECIFIC six ounces, with many other six 

 ounces that will have represented his PRIMARY PURCHASES 

 of bales of cotton. 



These six ounces GRADUALLY GROW, until they become 

 MANY POUNDS and soon become A BALE OF COTTON, of 

 approximately 500 pounds in weight, which bale then belongs 

 to the purchaser, and for which, the producer has received 

 NOTHING. 



AS TO THE LARGE PLANTATION 



Some of these plantations are, perhaps, owned by some one 

 residing in a city, or may be owned by a country storekeeper 

 and may be cultivated on a SHARE BASIS. 



By a "SHARE BASIS," we desire to convey the meaning, 

 that MANY land owners in the cotton district, as is the case, 

 no doubt, in many farming districts, that produce OTHER 

 products than cotton, rent their land to tenants on the basis 

 of SHARING THE RESULT OF THE PRODUCTION of the 

 land so rented. 



Other large planters cultivate and handle, themselves, ALL 

 the cotton produced on the plantation, operate their own 

 gins, and, possibly, gin cotton for others, in their immediate 

 vicinity. 



They may sell their cotton to a Buyer direct, on their plan- 

 tations, but always, of course, BY SAMPLE. 



To produce this sample, they must CUT THE BAGGING on 

 the bale of cotton, unless a sample be drawn from the bale, 

 WHILE GINNING, and baling. 



When the cotton is NOT sold at the point of origin, or, even 

 when it IS sold locally to a country storekeeper, the local 

 storekeeper usually re-sells, when he has accumulated a suffi- 

 cient number of bales of cotton at the local point from indi- 

 viduals, or from his own plantation, to COTTON BUYERS' 

 REPRESENTATIVES. 



The Cotton Buyer, then, usually cuts this bale AGAIN, and 

 DRAWS a- SAMPLE of from six ounces to one pound, and 

 ships this cotton to nearby concentrating points to a ware- 

 house or compress, for SUBSEQl^ENT re-shipment abroad or 

 to mills. 



