PRIMARY" COTTON MARKET CONDITIONS IN OKLAHOMA. 6 



GENERAL SCOPE OF THE WORK. 



It is the business of this investigation to find out facts as they 

 exist as a basis for improvement in conditions. It appears from one 

 season's work that some economies and some more equitable rewards 

 are within the reach of growers who will organize on a community 

 basis for the production and proper handling of a single variety of 

 cotton. 



In order to secure more exact information concerning the condi- 

 tions under which the farmer in the western end of the cotton belt 

 markets his cotton, to develop the differences which may exist between 

 local markets having similar freight rates to the ports, and to deter- 

 mine the influence of various other factors on the price of cotton 

 in primary markets, a comprehensive survey was undertaken, begin- 

 ning in October, 1912, of the primary markets in the State of Okla- 

 homa. 



This State was selected for the first work of this character because 

 it was believed that the quality of its cotton was more uniform than 

 that of any other State of equally large production. It was also 

 chosen because of the perfection of the organization of the farmers' 

 cooperative demonstration work in the State and the certainty that 

 its local agents would render valuable assistance in the collection of 

 the data. Assurances of cooperation had also been given by a number 

 of the most important cotton-handling firms. 



The plan of operation was to secure actual samples drawn by the 

 agents or representatives of the department from typical bales, taking 

 in each case a memorandum of the date and place of sale and the 

 price paid to the producer for the bale. These samples were imme- 

 diately wrapped and mailed to Oklahoma City, where they were 

 graded and stapled, every care being taken to make this work thor- 

 oughly accurate and reliable. Two special representatives of this 

 office were continually on the road collecting samples. The county 

 agents of the Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work rendered 

 valuable assistance, and in the aggregate secured the greater part of 

 the samples examined. In securing this information our agents fre- 

 quently visited cotton yards and ginners ; access to the records was given 

 them and they were permitted to sample as many bales as desired. In 

 this way a total of 3,2'50 bales were sampled between October 25 and 

 the middle of January, the grade 1 and staple of each being carefully 

 worked out in Oklahoma City, the results brought to Washington 

 for compilation, and the samples shipped there with the expectation 

 that an interesting exhibit of the various grades and staples produced 



1 All grading was on the official cotton grades which, in descending order of grade, 

 are : Middling fair, strict good middling, good middling, strict middling, middling, strict 

 low middling, low middling, strict good ordinary, good ordinary. 



