ASSOCIATION 105 



An attempt was made to obtain records of sales for the years 1922 

 to" 1926 from various independent warehousemen who had operated 

 auction-floor warehouses in some of the markets in which the asso- 

 ciation had receiving points. It was hoped that, if representative 

 samples could be extracted from the list of sales made at these ware- 

 houses, some idea of the quality of the tobacco might be obtained. 

 Then it would be possible to compare the quality of tobacco sold at 

 these auction-floor warehouses with the quality of the tobacco de- 

 livered to the association in the same markets. The records of sales 

 each year were tabulated but the results were unsatisfactory and it 

 was impossible to make a comparison of the grades of tobacco pur- 

 chased from the two sources by the tobacco companies. 



The association records of deliveries, by grades, of flue-cured to- 

 bacco were analyzed with a view to ascertaining whether there was 

 any tendency for the general average of quality to be lower during 

 the last three years. Lists were prepared by the association showing 

 the number of pounds of each grade of tobacco delivered annually 

 in each pool. Tobacco is usually classed in several broad divisions 

 known as " family blocks," which indicate roughly the use to which 

 the tobacco falling under these blocks is put. For instance the asso- 

 ciation divided its flue-cured tobacco into seven family blocks as 

 follows : 



Family block A — wrappers. 



Family block B — export cutting leaf. 



Family block C — fillers. 



Family block D — cutters. 



Family block B — smoking lugs. 



Family blocks F — primings (lower grades of tobacco). 



Family blocks H — domestic cutting leaf. 



Each of these family blocks is divided into several grades, depend- 

 ing chiefly upon color and quality. 



The method used was to divide arbitrarily the tobacco delivered 

 in each family block into two sections. Similar divisions were made 

 in each pool each year. For instance, the family block A for the 

 South Carolina pools was so divided that in each year the number 

 of pounds delivered in all grades above A 20 fell into the upper 

 section, and all tobacco delivered below that grade fell into the lower 

 section of the family block. Similar divisions were made for the 

 other family blocks. The quantity of tobacco in the upper and 

 lower sections was then divided by the total quantity of tobacco in 

 the pool and multiplied by 100 to put the result on a percentage 

 basis. The percentages for the upper and lower sections of each 

 family block were then added. The results so obtained are indicated 

 in Table 43. 



In the old-belt pools the percentage in the upper sections decreased 

 each year. This would seem to indicate either that members deliv- 

 ered a larger percentage of the poorer grades during the last three 

 years or that the crops were poorer. In the South Carolina pool 

 little definite change was found except that during the second year 

 the total percentage of the upper section increased. For the eastern 

 Carolina pools the percentage in the upper sections increased. The 

 number of members who delivered tobacco in the eastern Carolina 

 pool declined very rapidly from year to year. It is probable that 

 the better farmers remained loyal to the association. If this is true, 



