MARKETING COTTONSEED FOB PLANTING PURPOSES 19 
THE SHIPPING TAG 
In addition to carrying shipping directions, the shipping tag or 
label should also contain the following basic information which will 
aid the buyer in determining the true value of cottonseed : Lot num- 
ber, variety, where grown, year grown, percentage of germination, 
and date of test. Many States in the Cotton Belt have enacted seed 
laws which require that additional information, such as the per- 
centage of each of pure seed, weed seed, and inert matter, and the 
names of noxious weed seed present, be shown on the label attached 
to shipments of seeds, including cottonseed. 
THE LOT NUMBER 
The lot number is the key to the identity of any particular lot of 
seed. If dissatisfaction arises over a shipment, the lot number on the 
shipping tag or on the bag, with the aid of properly kept records, 
will aid in tracing the lot of seed from which the shipment in ques- 
tion was taken through each step of its preparation for the market 
back to its source of production. The original cause of the dissatis- 
faction would thus be located and responsibility properly placed. 
Information regarding the name and address of grower, location of 
farm, variety grown, and origin of stock seed, as well as data on ger- 
mination referred to on page 18, also should be recorded in connec- 
tion with each lot number. 
SELLING 
The indiscriminate buying and selling of field-crop seeds with little 
or no regard for the purity of variety or genuineness of strain is one 
of the greatest evils in the seed trade. A sale of cottonseed for plant- 
ing purposes represents something more than ordinary merchandis- 
ing. It has a direct bearing on the crop that may be produced. The 
value of the seed is potential, not apparent, and the farmer in making 
purchases has to rely almost wholly on the integrity of the seller and 
the accuracy and completeness of his statements. 
EXTRAVAGANT CLAIMS UNDESIRABLE 
A glance at the advertisements, catalogues, circulars, and other 
printed matter issued by various cottonseed dealers will disclose 
many extravagant claims and inconsistent statements. In some cases 
these claims are gross misrepresentations, and are never sustained 
except under the most favorable conditions or by the sacrifice of other 
equally important characteristics. The outstanding inconsistency in 
such statements is the fact that in many cases they attempt to de- 
scribe the good points of a variety and to show its agricultural possi- 
bilities, when an examination of the seed for sale would show it to be 
mixed, poorly ginned, and often low in germination. Farmers gen- 
erally are familiar with the description and characteristics of the 
most widely grown varieties of cotton, and it is of far greater im- 
portance for dealers to give assurance that the seed offered for sale is 
pure as to variety, in good physical condition, and of high germina- 
tion. The policy of simply listing cottonseed by its true variety name 
and stating in detail the conditions under which a particular lot was 
