COTTON WAREHOUSE CONSTRUCTION. 5 
future years. The inauguration of an ample and efficient system of 
warehouses would mark the beginning of a progressive revolution in 
the cotton markets. 
Storage not only protects cotton from the weather, but from other 
forms of wear and tear. In many places where cotton is sold on the 
street, numerous large holes are cut in the wrapping for pulling sam- 
ples. Frequently the owner loses several pounds in this unnecessary 
process, and the bale is left in a ragged and unsightly condition. It 
has been rendered less resistant to fire and exposure to weather by 
this damage. The samples are frequently thrown on the street and 
become a menace on account of increasing danger from fire. Besides 
this, they are unsightly and destructive of civie pride. 
As yet the warehouse is the most practical and economical means 
of holding the cotton until it is needed. A recent investigation made 
by this office indicated that the total storage capacity of the ware- 
houses now in use in the South is ample for protecting a maximum 
crop, but the same investigation showed clearly that only a very 
small percentage of these storage houses were properly located or so 
organized as to render efficient service.! It is also true that most of 
the present buildings are poorly constructed, thereby making it nec- 
essary to pay an excessive rate of insurance, and they are so arranged 
that the cost of handling cotton is unreasonably high. While it is 
true that in total capacity the present storage houses are sufficient, 
the results of the investigation emphasize the fact that in point of 
convenience and service rendered they are entirely inadequate. 
The same investigation showed that cotton, when properly stored 
and insured with a reputable company, is considered by the niost 
substantial bankers the very best collateral that can be offered. 
Numerous companies in the South have such arrangements with 
bankers as will enable the owners of cotton to store it with these 
companies and readily obtain loans on the best possible terms. 
Yet a large majority of the storage houses have very little business 
standing; consequently it frequently is difficult or almost impossible 
to borrow money on cotton stored with them. It is often true that 
these poorly organized companies are located in the cotton-producing 
communities. These are the kinds of warehouses with which many 
farmeis have been compelled to deal, and frequently they are the only 
kinds of which they have any knowledge. For this reason their atti- 
tude toward storing is almost hostile. They know from experience 
that they have to pay entirely too much for the service rendered by 
the companies, and they naturally have concluded that it_does not 
pay to store cotton. ™ 
1 Nixon, Robert L. Cotton Warehouses: Storage facilities now Available in the South. U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Bulletin 216, 1915, 
