- 3 
First Amendment to Standard Grades 
The cottonseed standards are what are known as permissive 
standards in that it is optional whether they "be used in the market- 
ing of cottonseed. Nevertheless, since their establishment a largo 
number of transactions in cottonseed, have "been "based on the stand- 
ards. This has been particularly true in the cotton-producing 
States in the Mississippi Valley, Each season since the establish- 
ment of the standards, the grading of cottonseed has "become noro and 
more popular as a marketing practice with producers, middlemen, and 
managers of crushing mills. During the season of 1936-37, the number 
of lots of cottonseed that were marketed on grade in the Mississippi 
Valley was practically double that for previous seasons (table 2), 
Moreover, the premiums and discounts based on the grades as an index 
of relative value, became increasingly important, especially in the 
minds of the sellers of cottonseed. It, being demonstrated that full 
grades were too broad, the standards were amended on July 30, 1937, 
to provide for half grades (appendix 3), 
Supervision of Sanpling and Grading 
Interest in the marketing of cottonseed became so keen that at 
the beginnir.g of the season of 1937-33 the Department of Agriculture 
undertook the supervision of both the sampling and the grading of all 
cottonseed sold for crushing in the Mississippi Valley, including 
that portion of Louisiana northeast of the Eed River; Arkansas, except 
that part contiguous to Oklahoma and Texas; Mississippi; Missouri; 
Illinois; Kentucky; and western Tennessee, This was done by means of 
licensed and ocnd^d samplers and of licensed eheuists. The work of 
both was supervised by a corps of inspectors regularly employed by the 
Department for the ourpose. Chemists' licenses were issued only to 
commercial and independent chemists who could demonstrate their ability 
to analyze saiplos of cottonseed accurately and who agreed to have 
their laboratories supervised by qualified agents of the Department, 
This official supervision apparently gave all parties greater 
confidence in the sampling and grading, for the number of . lots of seed 
that were sampled and graded that season was greatly increased — in 
fact, was again practically doubled in some of the States, 
The season of 1936-37 in the Mississippi Valley was character- 
ized as a late, w^t- cool cpring followed by a hot. dry summer, fre- 
quently of drought intensity. Then cane a ecld, wet harvest season, 
with a nunber of storms of heavy precipi taiicn B The adverse condi- 
tions of growth and harvest were most intsnse in western Tennessee and 
were least severe in Louisiana, The a.dverije growing conditions are 
reflected in the quantity of oil elaborated in the seed; and the ad- 
verse harvest conditions are reflected in the high percentage of in- 
stances in which the quality index was lowered for cause. It is 
