SERVICES IX COTTON MARKETING 19 
classification of the cotton. There are many serious problems to 
be solved in working out ways of doing satisfactorily what is con- 
templated without too great expense. 
ASSEMBLING AND DISTRIBUTING 
Cotton must be assembled from the farms and distributed to the 
mills, because large numbers of bales of * ; average receipts " cotton 
must be bought in order to classify it into even-running lots for 
mill consumption. It is impracticable for a cotton buyer to limit 
his purchases of cotton from the growers to specific grades. He 
buys every grade, staple, and character offered. A merchant's local 
representative may buy 10.000 bales before he is able to fill an order 
for 1.000 bales of Strict Middling of a prescribed staple length and 
of even-running character. Assembling is. therefore, a prerequisite 
of distribution to mills, and it makes transportation and carrying 
more economical. The service of assembling cotton may be per- 
formed by the people who distribute it to the mills or by others who 
confine their efforts to that service alone. Distribution involves all 
the services required in distributing the even-running lots of cotton 
throughout the world to the spinners requiring each specific kind 
of cotton. 
ASSEMBLING THE COTTON 
Growers perform the first service in assembling cotton when they 
haul it to the gin and from the gin to the local or primary market. 
Local buyers meet the farmers in the primary markets and buy the 
individual bales or small lots as offered for sale. At the end of the 
day they sell their purchases to merchants or shippers on a basis 
previously agreed upon or. if they are salaried representatives, they 
report their purchases to the head office. The cotton is sent to the 
railroad platform, the local warehouse, or the open cotton yard. The 
necessary documents giving title to the cotton pass into the hands 
of the local banker. These necessary documents are checks or drafts 
attached to the warehouse receipts or yard tickets which show at 
least the weight of the bale and the price paid. The ticket is often 
drawn to serve the purpose of the check. The bank requires also 
an insurance policy covering all purchases. 
The cotton is moved out of the local market by the cotton 
merchant's or shipper's take-up man. He visits the local market 
from time to time, makes a rough classification of the cotton bought 
by the local buyer, and makes arrangements to ship the cotton. If 
there is a compress in the town, the cotton goes there for compression. 
If it is a large center, well equipped and with proper railroad 
facilities, the merchant may make the place one of his concentration 
points. In that case he draws a sample and sends it with a coupon 
tag to the office in charge of shipments. The cotton is classed into 
even-running lots and stays there until sold and ordered out. The 
warehouse receipts and insurance policies are lodged with the banker 
furnishing the credit or a custodian designated by him. 
If the local market is small, as most of them are, the cotton is taken 
from the local yard or warehouse, delivered to the railroad, and billed 
to the merchant's concentration point. The banker exchanges the 
local warehouse receipts for an invoice and order bill of lading. He 
