UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1438 
Washington, D. C. T August, 1926 
WEATHER DAMAGE TO COTTON 
By R. L. Nixon, Assistant Marketing Specialist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Losses from weather damage 1 
Causes of weather damage 2 
Practical tests 4 
Tables _ - 7 
LOSSES FROM WEATHER DAMAGE 
Annual waste from weather damage to raw cotton can be measured 
in millions of dollars. Informal estimates have placed the figure 
anywhere between $25,000,000 and $75,000,000. A great part of 
this loss occurs while the cotton is in the hands of farmers, as buyers, 
shippers, and merchants usually place the cotton in proper storage 
immediately upon purchase. 
Losses from weather damage in the last three seasons have been 
much less than formerly. Under boll-weevil conditions, the picking 
season has been shortened and reaches its conclusion at an earlier 
date. Prices which have prevailed during this period have contrib- 
uted to an early movement of the crop from the producer into the ^ 
channels of trade, where facilities for protection are generally ample. 
Farmers' warehousing facilities have increased somewhat in number, 
and the value of cotton has been a factor in encouraging their use. 
Moreover, weather conditions have been more than ordinarily favor- 
able during the months when the crop was in the stage rendering it 
most susceptible to damage. The indefinite continuance of such a 
combination of circumstances, however, can not be expected. It is 
important, therefore, that the risks involved in the open storage of 
cotton should not be lost to sight. 
The findings of the experiments here described should be useful in 
combating the prevalent belief, especially on the part of farmers, that 
the exposure of baled cotton to unfavorable weather does not reduce 
the value of the product. The data emphasize the desirability of 
storing cotton in proper warehouses immediately after ginning and 
point out the best method of storing cotton in the open when it is 
necessary to do so. 
103116°— 26 t 
