10 BULLETIN" 457, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



mature early, and that this early maturing may have resulted 

 in a higher grade. However, during the first few months of the 

 cotton season of 1913-14 the precipitation was unusually heavy, in 

 some instances amounting to twice the normal. Presumably this 

 was the reason that the cotton of f-inch staple was lowest in grade, 

 running 32 points off Middling, while all of the staples from xf of an 

 inch and longer ran a few points on Middling in value. These figures 

 indicate that a large portion of the cotton crop is sold on averages, 

 neither grade nor staple receiving proper consideration in many 

 short-staple sections. 



It generally is admitted that the majority of the buyers operating 

 hi sections which produce short-staple cotton have only a very limited 

 knowledge of the various lengths of staple, as they have had prac- 

 tically no technical experience in stapling or " pulling" cotton. This 

 is probably the principal reason why the present price conditions 

 exist, but whatever the underlying cause, it can not be denied that 

 under such a system of marketing the producer of better staple is 

 not receiving a fair and just return for his product. It is manifestly 

 unfair to the farmer who is producing a superior staple to have his 

 cotton purchased at a price figured on the average cotton of a com- 

 munity, for naturally the average is low enough to protect the buyer 

 from any possible loss. Under this system of marketing, it is often 

 profitable for the producer to confine his efforts to the growing of the 

 shorter lengths, for as a rule there is a correlation between length of 

 staple and percentage of lint — usually the shorter the length of staple 

 the higher the percentage of lint; therefore, at the same price per 

 pound, the producer of the shorter staple would receive greater 

 returns. Subsequent to this investigation campaigns have been 

 conducted in many parts of the Cotton Belt with a view to teaching the 

 producer the value of growing better staple and the need of greater 

 care in handling his product, and the Office of Markets and Rural 

 Organization has had frequent indications that those who are growing 

 better staple are demanding and are often receiving the premiums 

 to which their staple entitles them. 



MARKETING TINGED AND STAINED COTTON. 



The rainfall during the months of September and October, 1913, 

 in the Cotton Belt was unusually heavy, in some sections amounting 

 to twice the normal. This unusual precipitation, at a time when the 

 cotton had matured, resulted in a large quantity of tinged and stained 

 cotton; about 25 per cent of the 38,000 samples collected could not 

 be classed on the permissive white grades. A study of the prices 

 received for colored cotton shows ranges out of proportion to the 

 values involved. While it is probably true that the buyer purchases 

 a great deal of this cotton at a time when it is difficult to find a market 



