12 BULLETIN 216, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



associations and build their own storage houses. They can not 

 expect others to invest thousands of dollars in storage houses that 

 will lie idle for several years and make a profit for only one year. 

 No business men will invest their money in such a way. Farmers 

 must build their own storage houses or remain dependent upon the 

 merchants and cotton factors. It would seem also that the mills 

 and trade in general should encourage the preservation of cotton by 

 storage by discriminating individually against "country damaged" 

 cotton. This would put a premium on cotton in good condition and 

 would thus tend to encourage storage. 



WAREHOUSES NOT WELL DISTRIBUTED. 



It has been stated that in aggregate storage capacity present facil- 

 ities are ample but the warehouses are not properly distributed. 

 The investigation showed that in many places in every State, 

 including those with the greatest number of warehouses, thousands 

 of bales of cotton are "stored" on the streets and platforms, or left 

 about gins and farms, while all the warehouses in use are filled 

 to their greatest capacity. In other sections of the same State, 

 frequently in the same county, warehouses were found that are 

 used very little. This indicates that very poor judgment has been 

 exercised in the location of storage houses and that those who have 

 cotton to be protected can not get the service which might be 

 expected from the figures shown in Table VII. Doubtless many new 

 warehouses should be erected in sections that are not now served. 

 Many of the houses which have been improperly planned should be 

 reconstructed in order to obtain better insurance rates and render 

 better service. Some of the inferior houses should be destroyed or 

 used for hay barns or for other purposes. Wherever possible, the 

 farmer should be allowed the use of cotton mill and other private 

 warehouses, and he should be encouraged in every possible way to 

 store and protect his cotton. On the other hand, he should be will- 

 ing to change his present practice and his ideas in regard to the 

 storage business. 



STORAGE FACILITIES NOW AVAILABLE. 



GEORGIA AND NORTH CAROLINA. 



Table III (p. 13) gives the results of the survey in Georgia and 

 North Carolina. It will be seen that the storage capacity of ware- 

 houses is given in flat or uncompressed bales, in cotton as offered, 

 and also in the compressed form. All the figures relating to the 

 storage capacity of warehouses belonging to cotton mills refer to 

 uncompressed or flat cotton. In the investigation in these States 

 information as to the storage capacity of all warehouses in flat bales 



