COTTON MARKET CONDITIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 17 
OTHER ADVANTAGES DERIVED FROM A KNOWLEDGE OF CLASS. 
Among the other advantages derived from a definite knowledge of 
grade before sale it was observed that such knowledge was of consid- 
erable importance in settlements between landlords and tenants, in 
that it formed an equitable basis for adjustment when the rent notes 
called for a certain number of pounds of a designated grade. Mer- 
chants who had not handled sufficient cotton to become proficient 
classers were able to use the class cards to advantage in the purchase 
and sale of cotton. 
Data compiled indicated that at markets where classed cotton was 
sold the price of unclassed cotton was approximately 10 points, or 
50 cents, per bale higher than it was in markets where no classing 
was done. This fact has an important bearing upon the amount of 
money that has been saved to the cotton producers of North Carolina 
during the seasons of 1914-15 and 1915-16. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
The samples of cotton which were graded and stapled during the 
1914-15 and 1915-16 seasons showed an average grade for the two 
seasons of slightly above Middling. The use of more modern gins, 
especially in the Coastal Plain section, would raise the average 
grade produced in the State. The fact that only 34 per cent of the 
cotton in the bales sampled was less than { of an inch in length of 
staple should be of great importance, since according to the United 
States cotton futures act % of an inch is the shortest length tender- 
able on future contracts. 
The producers of North Carolina are not securing the advantage 
that proximity to the mills should give, through failure to produce 
the lengths of staple required by them. Care in selecting varieties 
for planting tends to improve this situation. 
Marketing conditions on the whole are better in the Piedmont 
than in the Coastal Plain section. The grade and staple of indi- 
vidual bales are given reasonable consideration in the purchase of 
cotton in the Piedmont section, although inadequate premiums are 
paid for the higher grades. In the Coastal Plain section practically 
no distinction in price is made by the buyers between bales of differ- 
ent lengths of staple. 
Sales made for the purpose of settling accounts are at a higher 
rate than are cash sales on coinciding dates and grades. The range 
of: prices for credit sales is greater than the range of prices for cash 
sales. As a rule, however, this is not the economic gain that it ap- 
pears, as the fact undoubtedly is taken into consideration in setting 
the price at which the goods, represented by the account, are sold. 
