COTTON WAREHOUSE CONSTRUCTION. 5 



future years. The inauguration of an ample and efficient system of 

 warehouses would mark the beginning of a progressive revolution in 

 the cotton markets. 



Storage not only protects cotton from the weather, but from other 

 forms of wear and tear. In many places where cotton is sold on the 

 street, numerous large holes are cut in the wrapping for pulling sam- 

 ples. Frequently the owner loses several pounds in this unnecessary 

 process, and the bale is left in a ragged and unsightly condition. It 

 has been rendered less resistant to fire and exposure to weather by 

 this damage. The samples are frequently thrown on the street and 

 become a menace on account of increasing danger from fire. Besides 

 this, they are unsightly and destructive of civic pride. 



As yet the warehouse is the most practical and economical means 

 of holding the cotton until it is needed. A recent investigation made 

 by this office indicated that the total storage capacity of the ware- 

 houses now in use in the South is ample for protecting a maximum 

 crop, but the same investigation showed clearly that only a very 

 small percentage of these storage houses were properly located or so 

 organized as to render efficient service. 1 It is also true that most of 

 the present buildings are poorly constructed, thereby making it nec- 

 essary to pay an excessive rate of insurance, and they are so arranged 

 that the cost of handling cotton is unreasonably high. While it is 

 true that in total capacity the present storage houses are sufficient, 

 the results of the investigation emphasize the fact that in point of 

 convenience and service rendered they are entirely inadequate. 



The same investigation showed that cotton, when properly stored 

 and insured with a reputable company, is considered by the most 

 substantial bankers the very best collateral that can be offered. 

 Numerous companies in the South have such arrangements with 

 bankers as will enable the owners of cotton to store it with these 

 companies and readily obtain loans on the best possible terms. 

 Yet a large majority of the storage houses have very little business 

 standing; consequently it frequently is difficult or almost impossible 

 to borrow money on cotton stored with them. It is often true that 

 these poorly organized companies are located in the cotton-producing 

 communities. These are the kinds of warehouses with which many 

 farmeis have been compelled to deal, and frequently they are the only 

 kinds of which they have any knowledge. For this reason their atti- 

 tude toward storing is almost hostile. They know from experience 

 that they have to pay entirely too much for the service rendered by 

 the companies, and they naturally have concluded that it does not 

 pay to store cotton. 



1 Nixon, Robert L. Cotton Warehouses: Storage facilities now Available in the South. U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Bulletin 216, 1915. 



