6 
BULLETIN 1445, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
which will unroll from end to end, and the bale labeled with an 
identification tag securely attached and stating the place of origin. 4 
Standard compresses, sometimes called railroad presses, are in- 
variably located on a railroad. The flat bale of cotton on leaving 
the gin is " localed " to such a point for compression on through- 
rate basis. This practice is called compression in transit. The 
high-density presses are usually located at the large export points. 
The price of compressing is 75 cents per bale. 
BEGINNING 
In seasons of much low-grade cotton, if the discounts become 
unduly wide, cotton is sometimes reginned in gins with special 
equipment for cleaning. Different colored cottons are also some- 
times blended to improve the grade from the standpoint of color 
or of foreign-matter content. In a normal season little reginning 
is done. 
MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION 
One of the factors limiting the sale of spot cotton on description 
is the unsatisfactory means of identification. The usual method is 
to paint numbers or letters on one side of the bale. The paint is 
often poor and is often put where the bagging is later cut by the 
sampler. The bale must usually be re-marked each time it is bought. 
By the time a bale has changed hands several times it is a problem 
to sort out cotton according to owner and lot numbers. 
Table 2 shows the condition of American cotton bales arriving for 
export in 1913. 
Table 2. — Cotton and li 
nt&rs condemned and inspected 
1, 1912-May 1, 1913 
at all ports, September 
Total in- 
spected 
Condemned because of— 
Total 
con- 
demned 
Port 
Insuffi- 
cient 
marks 
Insuffi- 
cient 
density 
Country 
damage » 
Spider 
bands 
Insuffi- 
cient 
bands 
Bales 
2, 912, 549 
622, 790 
1, 161, 080 
756, 088 
207, 788 
136, 899 
134, 261 
152, 167 
Bales 
148, 860 
5,215 
247, 535 
71, 134 
50, 779 
51, 012 
2,840 
2,043 
Bales 
10,648 
336 
15, 582 
16, 410 
257 
67 
4,443 
191 
Bales 
146, 571 
20,381 
13, 10C 
21, 276 
10, 168 
5,601 
1,585 
Bales 
117, 106 
23, 418 
4,254 
796 
Bales 
19,994 
50 
374 
31, 212 
Bales 
443, 179 
49,400 
280, 851 
Savannah .. .. ' _ _ 
140, 828 
61, 204 
3,608 
170 
60,458 
8,868 
2,234 
Total 
6, 083, 622 
579, 418 
47, 934 
218, 688 
149, 182 
51,800 
1, 047, 022 
Rearranged from report of South Atlantic and Gulf Cotton Inspection Bureau. See p. 29 of hearings before 
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. House of Representatives, 63d Cong., 1st sess., June 
24, 1913. 
"Country damage includes " wet, rusty, oily, greasy," cement-stained, muddy, mildew, brick dust, 
rusty bands, tar, soiled, ink stains, and other damage. 
The " better bale " idea has made great progress since 1913, but 
there is still room for much improvement. In the season 1922-23 
the American ports cleared 190,594 bales direct to Manchester. 
Only 36 bales landed without identification marks. The quantities 
and kinds of damage incurred were as shown in Table 3. 
* Official Report of the World Cotton Conference, New Orleans, La., 1919, p. 134. 
