COTTON 
223 
with such care as its importance demands. It now 
comes in all sizes, varies greatly as to weight, may 
or may not have been damaged by rain and ex- 
posure. Then, too, it is poorly covered. Often 
the covering is torn, allowing the lint to drop out, 
subjecting the American bale to the charge that it 
is " the clumsiest, dirtiest, most expensive and most 
wasteful package in which cotton, or in fact any 
commodity of like value, is anywhere put up." 
What do you do with your cotton when it comes 
back from the gin? Your neighbors put theirs 
under the apple tree or in the barn lot, or in some 
open exposed place, where rain and dust attack 
and damage it ; even pigs are allowed access to cot- 
ton bales as places to clean their muddy backs. 
This constant loss is of course the farmer's, 
and no one else's. Even the waste due to bagging 
and ties is the farmer's loss, although he seldom 
realizes it. The usual tare percentage is placed 
at six, which means a reduction of 24 pounds for a 
400 pound bale, and 30 pounds for a 500 pound 
bale. While this feature of tare is but slightly 
discussed or considered in this country, it always 
calls for a deduction in the great manufacturing 
centers abroad and so has its effect on cotton prices. 
