SERVICES IN COTTON MARKETING 11 
tinged; (b) light stained, which comes between yellow tinged and 
yellow stained; and (c) gray, which comes between white and blue 
stained. 
Staple length refers to the length of the cotton fibers. Staple in 
European markets is measured in terms of millimeters and ex- 
presses both length and character. What is known as 28-29 milli- 
meter cotton in some European markets would measure little more 
than an inch if good " hard-bodied " cotton. Moreover, different 
people have different conceptions of what length and character of 
cotton should be delivered on a given millimeter description. What 
one mill will take for 28-29 millimeter another would reject. 
The United States Department of Agriculture is working toward 
standards for staple length as determined by physical measurement. 
Considerable study has been given to the question of standards for 
character, but none have been adopted. Character influences the 
market value of cotton now either through the formation of types 
or through an appended description to standard designation of 
grade and staple. The chief elements constituting character are 
uniformity, strength, smoothness, and spirality of fibers. 
Samples representing the official standard for nine selected lengths 
of staple are shown in Figure 3. 
No mechanical means has been devised as yet to staple cotton 
successfully for commercial purposes. The fibers to be measured 
must first be " pulled " — that is, paralled and evened. The lengths 
of the fibers in any bale of cotton vary widely. The one who does 
the pulling must decide when he has a fair representation of the bale 
and what percentage of fibers should equal or exceed the standard to 
which the bale is judged to be equal. The standard itself prescribes 
only that a typical portion of the fibers shall be selected, but ex- 
perienced cotton men in practice find no difficulty in making the 
necessary determinations. 9 
UNIVERSAL STANDARDS FOR AMERICAN COTTON 
The official cotton standards of the United States for grades and 
colors of American Upland cotton, known as the universal standards 
for American cotton, are prepared by the Bureau of Agricultural 
Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture. Prac- 
tical forms or copies are prepared and sold by the department for 
the following grades and colors : 
No. 1 or Middling Fair. 
No. 2 or Strict Good Middling. 
No. 3 or Good Middling. 
No. 4 or Strict Middling. 
No. 5 or Middling. 
No. 6 or Strict Low Middling. 
No. 7 or Low Middling. 
No. 8 or Strict Good Ordinary. 
No. 9 or Good Ordinary. 
No. 3 Tinged, or Good Middling Yellow Tinged. 
No. 4 Tinged, or Strict Middling Yellow Tinged. 
No. 5 Tinged, or Middling Yellow Tinged. 
No. 6 Tinged, or Strict Low Middling Yellow Tinged. 
No. 7 Tinged, or Low Middling Yellow Tinged. 
9 For a full description of standards for cotton and how it is classed under tuein. see 
U. S. Dept. Cir. 278, 1924. 
