PRIMARY COTTON MARKET CONDITIONS IN OKLAHOMA. 6 
GENERAL SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
It is the business of this investigation to find out facts as they 
exist as a basis for improvement in conditions. It appears from one 
season's work that some economies and some more equitable rewards 
are within the reach of growers who will organize on a community 
basis for the production and proper handling of a single variety of 
cotton. 
In order to secure more exact information concerning the condi- 
tions under which the farmer in the western end of the cotton belt 
markets his cotton, to develop the differences which may exist between 
local markets having similar freight rates to the ports, and to deter- 
mine the influence of various other factors on the price of cotton 
in primary markets, a comprehensive survey was undertaken, begin- 
ning in October, 1912, of the primary markets in the State of Okla- 
homa. 
This State was selected for the first work of this character because 
it was believed that the quality of its cotton was more uniform than 
that of any other State of equally large production. It was also 
chosen because of the perfection of the organization of the farmers' 
cooperative demonstration work in the State and the certainty that 
its local agents would render valuable assistance in the collection of 
the data. Assurances of cooperation had also been given by a number 
of the most important cotton-handling firms. 
The plan of operation was to secure actual samples qlrawn by the 
agents or representatives of the department from typical bales, taking 
in each case a memorandum of the date and place of sale and the 
price paid to the producer for the bale. These samples were imme- 
diately wrapped and mailed to Oklahoma City, where they were 
graded and stapled, every care being taken to make this work thor- 
oughly accurate and reliable. Two special representatives of this 
office were continually on the road collecting samples. The county 
agents of the Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work rendered 
valuable assistance, and in the aggregate secured the greater part of 
the samples examined. In securing this information our agents fre- 
quently visited cotton yards and ginners ; access to the records was given 
them and they were permitted to sample as many bales as desired. In 
this way a total of 3,2'50 bales were sampled between October 25 and 
the middle of January, the grade * and staple of each being carefully 
worked out in Oklahoma City, the results brought to Washington 
for compilation, and the samples shipped there with the expectation 
that an interesting exhibit of the various grades and staples produced 
1 All grading was on the official cotton grades which, in descending order of grade, 
are : Middling fair, strict good middling, good middling, strict middling, middling, strict 
low middling, low middling, strict good ordinary, good ordinary. 
