6 BULLETIN 457, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
damage by exposure to weather conditions, and when stored in this 
way usually can not be utilized as a collateral for loans. For these 
reasons the merchant often insists that it be sold as rapidly as 
ginned. This rushing of cotton to the market naturally tends to 
depress it, and lower prices result. 
VARIATIONS IN THE PRICES OF MIDDLING COTTON IN THE SAME 
MARKET ON THE SAME DAY IN DIFFERENT STATES IN THE COTTON 
BELT. 
In Table 2 is shown the range in prices between bales of Middling 
cotton sold in the same market on the same day. In many of these 
markets several hundred bales of cotton were sold in a single day, 
and it is doubtful that in any particular case data were secured upon 
both the highest and lowest prices paid, on any date in any market. 
Therefore it is safe to assume that the range in prices shown in Table 
2 is less than that which actually occurred in many primary markets. 
A glance at Table 2 shows that the widely varying prices are not 
confined to any section of the belt, but occur in each State where 
cotton is grown. This condition clearly indicates that a large amount 
of cotton is sacrificed at a price below its real value. The extreme 
variation shown in the table is in Oklahoma, with a sale on October 
21 in Durant of 14 inch cotton at 13 cents and 1} inch at 10.05 cents. 
It is safe to assume that 134 inch cotton is worth at least half a cent 
more than 14 inch; so, assuming that the 1 inch cotton sold for its 
full value, on this basis the 14 inch cotton sold for at least $17.50 below 
its real value. A similar sale is recorded at Jewett, Tex., where on 
December 12 a bale of 1 inch cotton sold for 11 cents per pound and a 
bale of 14 inch staple sold for 9 cents, a difference of 200 points or $10 
per bale. As 14 inch staple is worth approximately $5 per bale more 
than 1 inch, the total loss m this instance would approximate $15 
per bale. A number of such sales are recorded in Table 2. 
TABLE 2.— Variations in the ee of middling cotton in the same market, the same day, in 
iferent States in the cotton belt. 
l S 
Pts Fe ee Differ- Differ- 
Length | Price per; Length | Price per 
Market. Date of sale. of staple. pound. | ofstaple.| pound. 
South Carolina: Inches. Cents. | Inches. Cents. 
‘hapi 13. 00 1 12.00 
Ghagin cd oF e = Feb. 10,1914 3 ds 100 $5.00 
Alabama: : 
Huntsville... 250+... | Dec. 4, 1913 i 12. 50 i 11.50 100 5. 00 
rg. eer eee Jan. 8,1914 1 12. 50 11. 25 125 6. 25 
Montgomery....-....-- Jan. 24,1914 yb 13.12 pes 12.12 100 5. 00 
North Carolina: 
ait id Le By a2 Nov. 11,1913 Z 13.38 Z 12. 38 100 5.00 
Georgia: 
Biaha lies Sen io an 2s 2 Dec. 19,1913 1 12. 50 Hi 10. 00 250 12. 50 
Moultrie... 2.2. 2... 222: Oct. 22,1913 ay 12.75 11.75 100 5. 00 
Washington. .........- Dec. 11,1913 i 13. 00 1 - 00 200 10. 00 
Mississippi: 
elo: tl; > |e aa oe em Nov. 25, 1913 i 13. 00 1 12. 50 2.50 
Corn Dec. 5,1913 | 13.00 1 11. 60 140 7.00 
Starkville. ............ Nov. 28,1913 1 12.75 if 10. 10 13. 25 
ES ——~ 
