PRIMARY COTTON MARKET CONDITIONS IN OKLAHOMA. 35 
iics of the proportion of the different grades in the total crop of the 
State and of the average relative prices received for these grades 
during the entire season. This will also give an accurate record of 
the rise and fall of prices in the interior as compared with prices at 
the ports and on the larger exchanges. If successful in obtaining 
this information we should have a fairly accurate measure of the 
aggregate loss to the growers in the State from failure to secure 
proper grading at the time of sale, and we shall be in a position to 
o-ive accurate advice as to the savings which may result from or- 
ganized cooperative handling and marketing among the farmers. 
SUMMARY. 
1. This market survey included 103 towns in Oklahoma and in- 
volved the sampling of over 3,200 bales of cotton with records of 
date and place of sale and price paid to the grower. It also involved 
the careful grading and stapling of these samples. 
2. While the survey was in progress much information concerning 
ginning and marketing practices was obtained. 
3. The ginners, who buy a large proportion of the cotton, pay very 
nearly the same price for all cotton purchased on a given day whether 
buying in seed or in the bale. 
4. In street markets, even where there are large numbers of buy- 
ers, widely differing price's are paid on the same day for bales of 
identical quality. There is no uniform price even for middling 
cotton. 
5. The differences fixed by Oklahoma firms allow only about one- 
half as much premium for grades above middling as do the differ- 
ences of the New York Cotton Exchange. This should not be con- 
strued as in any way approving the New York fixed difference 
system. 
6. In actual street buying the premiums paid for bales grading 
above middling are far less than the locally advertised differences 
for such grades. In some cases the bulk of the cotton is bought as 
middling for weeks at a time, when a large majority of the bales are 
actually above that grade. 
7. Accurate knowledge of cotton grading is of little value to the 
producer in marketing his individual crop under present conditions. 
8. Independent ginners and local merchants who buy cotton are 
usually compelled to accept the grading of the larger firms when 
their cotton is " taken up." 
9. Except in the southeastern part of the State no attention is 
paid to length of staple in fixing the price of the individual bale, 
but certain regions receive slightly higher prices than others be- 
cause of reputed superiority of average staple. 
