- 28 - 
samples, is facilitated; and (2) that there can be no doubt concerning the 
identity of the bale from which the samples were drawn. 
Table 5.- Prevalence of the practice of trimming cotton samples 
at compresses and warehouses visited, by States, 1933 
State 
Compresses 
and warehouses 
visited 
Percentage 
where samples 
were trimmed 
Total 
Number 
148 
Percent 
95.3 
Alabama 
13 
12 
23 
14 
7 
2 
12 
11 
6 
46 
2 
100.0 
Arkansas 
100.0 
Georgia 
100.0 
Louisiana 
92.9 
Mississippi 
Missouri 
100.0 
100.0 
North Carolina 
100.0 
South Carolina 
100.0 
Tennessee 
100.0 
Texas 
Virginia 
87.0 
100.0 
At many of the compresses and warehouses visited it was found that 
there were no regulations governing the method of rolling samples, the sam- 
pler following any method convenient to him. At most compresses and ware- 
houses, however, the samples from the top and the bottom sides of the bale 
were carefully rolled with the identifying coupon between them, and at nearly 
7 percent of the compresses and warehouses it was customary to roll the sample 
from the bottom side of the bale on the outside of the combined sample (table 
6) . As previously stated, the sample drawn from the top side of the bale 
is sometimes rougher and often has shorter and more irregular layers of cotton 
than the sample from the bottom side of the bale. When this condition is 
noticeable, it is a valuable means of identifying the sample from the top 
side of the bale. Under such circumstances, samplers sometimes place the 
sample from the bottom side of the bale on the outside and roll from each end 
toward the center, but the usual direction for rolling samples is not from 
the ends inward toward the center, but from one end to the other. Samples 
for certification according to the United States Cotton Futures Act are laid 
flat on sample paper and rolled inside the paper. 
At one-half of the compresses and warehouses visited it was found to 
be customary to roll samples with the inside surfaces together (table 6). 
This practice was followed extensively in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, 
Mississippi, and Virginia. At about 5 percent of the compresses and ware- 
houses, the outside surfaces of the samples were rolled together; and at 
about 5 percent, the inside surface of one of the samples was rolled against 
the outside surface of the other. 
