- 15 - 
Sample Cut on One Edge Only.- When a sample is drawn after cutting one 
edge with a knife, the procedure is as follows. With the same kind of knife 
as that used when plugging samples, a cut 12 to 16 inches long, usually de- 
scribing a crescent, is made in the bale, the horns of the crescent pointing 
toward either the top or the bottom end of the bale. The depth of the cut, 
which should be made at one stroke of the knife, is usually about 1-1/2 inches 
on flat bales and 3/4 inch to 1-1/2 inches on standard-density and high-density 
bales. The cut edge is then grasped firmly, and the sample is pulled from the 
bale. The cut edge remains comparatively undisturbed and smooth, but the edge 
pulled loose from the bale is rough and somewhat irregular (figs. 3 and 4). A 
similar sample is drawn from the other side of the bale, and both samples are 
trimmed. One of the identifying coupons is then removed from the tag on the 
bale and placed between the two samples, after which they are rolled or wrapped 
and disposed of in the same way as described for plugged samples. 
No loss in weight due to loss of bagging occurs when this method of sam- 
pling is employed. As a sample cannot be pulled so close to the bands as it 
can be cut, this type of sample is not so wide as the plugged sample. One 
point in favor of so cutting the sample that the horns of the crescent point 
toward the top end of the bale is that, so long as the bale remains in that 
position, the portion of the bagging so cut will naturally fall down over the 
sample hole and cover the opening; whereas, if the horns of the crescent point 
toward the bottom end of the bale, the bagging that covered the sample will 
fall down and leave the sample hole open and, in addition, will be in the way 
if a sample from between the next two bands below the sample hole is desired. 
The use of the knife on only one edge of the sample is the predominant 
method of sampling at the compresses visited in Texas. Other States in which 
this method is used are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Tennessee. 
It is the method employed exclusively at 22 percent of all the compresses and 
warehouses visited in the United States (table 1). 
Sample P ulle d from the Bale with a Cotton Hoo k.- The cotton hook used 
in obtaining a sample from a bale consists of a cylindrical handle about 6 
inches long, usually made of wood, and a steel rod that passes perpendicularly 
through the handle at the center and extends about 6 to 8 inches, the pointed 
end curving into a half circle (fig. 10). In drawing this type of sample, the 
sampler first uses the knife, making a cut from 12 to 16 inches long, often 
through the bagging only. The hook is then used to dig into the bale and pull 
the fibers loose. In doing this, the hook is placed parallel to a band and as 
near as possible to it. This action may be repeated for pulling the other 
edge of the sample loose from the bale, or the hook may be discarded after the 
first edge is loosened and the hands used instead to pull the sample from the 
bale. The operation of drawing a sample with the hook requires practically 
the same time as is required by other methods. 
A sample that has been pulled with the aid of a hook has rough, irreg- 
ular edges that show comparatively little trash (figs. 5 and 6). The layers 
of cotton are not so compact as are the layers in the plugged sample, for 
they have been ruffled up by the hook, and this sample cannot be so wide as 
the sample that is plugged. 
