- 3 - 
Types of Cotton Samples 
Different methods of drawing samples are employed in different parts 
of the Cotton Belt. Four more or less distinct sampling practices are here 
discussed, and the outstanding characteristics of the four resulting types 
of samples are set forth (figs. 1 to 8), namely, (1) the "plugged" sample, 
(2) the sample that is cut on one edge only, (3) the sample that is pulled 
from the bale with a cotton hook, and (4) the sample that is pulled from the 
bale by hand. 2/ As hereafter explained, in drawing samples numbered (1) and 
(2), the sampler cuts into the bale itself, whereas in drawing samples num- 
bered (3) and (4), the bagging only is cut preparatory to drawing the sample. 
(Samples used as a basis of reports issued by the United States Department of 
Agriculture on grade and staple length of cotton ginned, are press-box samples 
taken from about the center of the bale before it is wrapped and tied. This 
study was limited to the four types of samples at present employed in the usu- 
al marketing practice.) 
Plugged Sample . - When a flat, or uncompressed, bale of cotton is pre- 
sented to the sampler for drawing a "plugged", or blocked, sample, he makes 
two smooth, straight cuts into the bale — about 16 inches long, 6 inches apart, 
and 2 inches deep (fig. 9). For making these cuts the sampler uses a very 
sharp knife, about 10 inches long, the curved cutting edge of which he keeps 
sharp by the frequent use of a carborundum rock or other substance suitable 
for whetting (fig. 10). An experienced sampler will make each cut at a single 
stroke, the two requiring about 6 seconds. Another stroke severs the bagging 
at one end, and the sample is then grasped firmly, usually in both hands, and 
pulled from the bale, care being taken to disturb the edges and the layers of 
fiber as little as possible. This sample is usually laid on the bale with the 
outside surface clown, and another sample is similarly drawn from the other 
side of the bale. The same procedure is followed in drawing a plugged sample 
from a high-density or a standard-density bale except that the two smooth cuts 
are usually made from 3/4 inch to 1 inch deep and parallel to and very close 
to the inside edges of two adjacent bands. A sample drawn in this way is neat 
in appearance and very compact (figs. 1 and 2). 
After the two portions of the sample have been drawn, it is customary 
to place an identifying coupon between them, and they are then rolled together 
and either wrapped in paper or placed in a basket, a box, or a sack. 
Table 1 shows that the practice of sampling bales of cotton by plugging 
is employed in the States of Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana. At only 4.3 per- 
cent of the compresses and warehouses visited in Texas was this method of 
drawing samples employed exclusively, but it was employed to some extent at 
almost one-third of them and at more than one-tenth of the 148 compresses and 
warehouses visited in the United States. Although no means of weighting these 
data on the basis of volume of bales sampled is available, it was observed 
during the survey that plugging is the most popular method of sampling at sev- 
eral of the large cotton warehouses and compresses in Texas, and that the use 
of this method of sampling is increasing. It seems probable that considerably 
more than one-third of the Texas crop is so sampled. 
2/ Samples from flat and compressed bales only. Samples are usually drawn 
from round bales with an augur. 
