2 BULLETIN 216, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
were sent to all ginners and cotton dealers in Georgia and North 
Carolina asking for the names and addresses of all cotton-storage 
companies, both public and private. A tentative warehouse list was 
made up from the replies to this inquiry, and a letter and blank 
asking for details as to cost of construction, storage capacity, insur- 
ance rates, and charges for storage were sent to each individual or 
company on the list. These were followed, in many cases,.by other. 
inquiries and special correspondence. In addition to this, the writer 
visited many of the warehouses and conferred with a large number 
of warehousemen, cotton dealers, and others interested in the cotton 
industry. 
In August, 1914, when it became apparent that the price of cotton 
would be seriously depressed on account of a limited demand, it was — 
obvious that there would be an unusual demand for storage space. 
In order to get data concerning storage facilities in the cotton- 
producing States, a letter of Inquiry was sent to all the county agents 
of the Farmers’ Cooperative Demonstration Work in the Southern 
States. This letter asked for the names of all warehouse companies 
in the sections where the various agents were located and the storage 
capacity of the buildings operated by these companies. The agents 
responded readily to this inquiry, and the results obtained enabled 
us to form a good idea of the available storage facilities throughout 
the South. In this connection it should be remembered that an 
immediate report was requested from the county agents. This made 
it impossible for them to make a very thorough investigation which 
would enable them to report all storage houses. Many of the cotton- 
producing counties have no agents, so the number of warehouses 
reported from this source is further limited. In addition, many of 
the nonproducing counties in the cotton belt where no agents are 
stationed have warehouses with a large aggregate storage capacity. 
Taking all of these facts into consideration it is quite evident that 
the reports from the county agents necessarily are far short of the 
actual number of warehouses in the various States. But these 
reports are especially valuable as a basis for comparison of conditions 
between the States where surveys have been made and the States | 
where no such investigations have been conducted. : 
IMPORTANCE OF THE WAREHOUSE IN FINANCING THE COTTON CROP. | 
ag Financing the cotton crop is one of the most difficult, and at the | 
same time one of the most important problems confronting the south- 
ern farmer and the southern business man. In the light of all the © 
facts, it seems reasonable to state that but little cotton would be 
stored or insured if it were not necessary to do so in order to negotiate 
loans with cotton as collateral. The banks are entirely willing to 
advance money on cotton on liberal terms when it is properly stored 
