A BULLETIN 277, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Nature has dealt so generously with them that they have not been 
compelled to realize the importance of saving. The South particu- 
larly has been inclined to disregard the future. ~The present crisis in 
the cotton market comes in a most unexpected manner and drives 
home the lesson of the importance of conservation. The grain grow- 
ers of the Middle West have long realized the absolute necessity of a 
system of elevators for handling and storing their grain. Now the 
South realizes that a system of warehouses is essential for saving, 
handling, and marketing the cotton crop. Many are suffering be- 
cause they have been too short-sighted to take the necessary pre- 
caution. Cotton lends itself more readily to storage than does any 
other valuable farm product. In view of this, it seems strange that 
storage has not been practiced. On the other hand, it is injured less 
by exposure than are most products. This partly accounts for the. 
present attitude toward storage. Cotton does not demand storage; 
consequently it is grossly neglected. 
FUNCTIONS OF A WAREHOUSE. 
A warehouse has three legitimate and very important functions: 
First, it offers temporary storage facilities when the person owning 
the product is not in a position to store it himself. In the cotton 
business, In normal years, this will cover the period from the time 
the cotton is ginned until it is sold by the farmer. It also provides 
the cotton dealer with a place 1 in which to store a cotton from the 
time 1t 1s purchased until it is shipped. 
Second, the warehouse should furnish the owner of the stored 
product a negotiable receipt. This receipt should show definitely 
what product is stored, the ownership, the amount of goods, the kind 
or grade, the condition, and the location of the warehouse. It should 
rae show that the stored products are properly protected by imsur- 
ance. The legal holder of such a receipt would be protected as fully 
as if he had the goods securely locked in his own vault. 
Third, the warehouse provides a reservoir for surplus during years 
of overproduction or when market conditions are very unsatisfactory. 
When there is a surplus of any product there should be some way of 
saving it until there is a better demand for it. 
In keeping qualities, cotton is superior to all other agricultural 
products. Properly stored it can be kept indefinitely without the 
slightest. deterioration. It seems remarkable that so little advantage 
has been taken of this superior keeping quality. The fact that cot- 
ton can be left in the weather for several months doubtless accounts 
for some of the existing indifference to the subject. The South could 
save millions of dollars in normal years by protecting cotton from 
the weather. It is to be hoped that the lesson which is costing so 
much now will result in the s saving of many times the present loss in 
oy” (Ren 
