SERVICES IX COTTON MARKETING 17 
marketing; but that if farmers as a class are to have the benefit of 
such a service, they must pay to have it done. Many growers are 
doing this through cooperative associations. 
GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY IN COTTON CLASSING 
The United States Government is now authorized to class cotton 
under the authority of four different acts. The cotton futures act 
provides that all cotton to be delivered in the settlement of future 
contracts must be classed by the Department of Agriculture. The 
department maintains a board of cotton classers at New York and 
one at New Orleans- for this purpose. If the party at interest is 
dissatisfied with the class given, he may appeal and have the class 
reviewed. The class established by review is final for settlement 
of all future contracts, and the bale may be tendered any number of 
times without reclassification, as long as the rules for handling such 
cotton are observed. This classification has no legal force outside 
the futures market. This law gives the boards at New York and 
New Orleans, and a similar board at Washington, authority to class 
cotton for informative purposes. Those who contemplate deliver- 
ing cotton that they consider barely passable, may wish such a pre- 
liminary classification before they ship the cotton. The fee for 
such service varies, but is usually about 30 cents a bale. The num- 
ber of bales classed annuallv under the authority of this act is 
usually between 300.000 and 500,000. 
The United States warehouse act passed in 1916 and amended in 
1919 and 1923 provides, among other things, that if cotton is stored 
in a warehouse licensed under the act the class of the cotton must 
be shown on the receipt, or the words " Not graded on request of 
depositor " clearly stamped on the face of it. The act also pro- 
vides for issuing licenses to competent persons to class cotton ac- 
cording to United States standards. If one of the interested par- 
ties is dissatisfied with the class placed on his cotton he may appeal 
to the chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, or to a duly 
authorized cotton examiner or board, and the chief shall designate 
an examiner or board of examiners to settle the complaint. 
There are two main purposes in classing cotton for warehousing: 
(1) To facilitate the financing of unsold cotton and (2) to provide 
a basis for insurance and for claims in case of loss. 10 Classifiers 
licensed under the United States warehouse act may or may not 
be licensed under the United States cotton standards act. 
The United States cotton standards act passed in 1923 is designed 
in part to assist the cotton farmer in obtaining the correct classing 
of his cotton and to improve his position as a salesman. Accord- 
ing to the provisions of this law, anyone who has custody of or 
financial interest in any cotton may submit the same or samples 
thereof, drawn in accordance with the regulations of the Secretary 
of Agriculture, for the determination of its class. To make the 
act more serviceable, the Secretary of Agriculture is empowered to 
license cotton classers who may in turn issue certificates of class on 
cotton. 11 
10 Regulation 4 of U. S. Dept. of Agr. Service and Regulatory Announcements No. 76, 
Julv, 1923. 
11 42 Stat. L., p. 1517. 
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