SAMPLING AMERICAN COTTON 
Prevailing Practices and Some Factors Affecting Representativeness of Samples 
By Sam W. Martin, Associate Agricultural Economist, and 
Florena Cleaves, Junior Marketing Specialist, 
Division of Cotton Marketing 1/ 
Contents 
Page Page 
Introduction 1 Factors affecting representative- 
Procedure in gathering data 2 ness of sample (continued): 
Types of cotton samples 3 Patching 27 
Plugged sample 3 Trimming the sample 27 
Sample cut on one edge only 15 Rolling the sample 27 
Sample pulled from the bale Handling, packing, and care 
with a cotton hook 15 of samples 30 
Sample pulled from the bale Summary and conclusions 32 
by hand 16 Extracts from State laws relat- 
Factors affecting representa- ing to false packing of 
tiveness of sample 16 cotton 36 
Ginning and baling 17 
Drawing the sample 23 
I ntro d uctio n 
Reliable classification of cotton requires that samples be adequately 
representative of the bales from which they are drawn. The manner of drawing 
the sample and other factors affecting its representativeness deserve more 
consideration than they have received. The importance of a properly drawn 
sample is too little recognized either by the one who draws the sample or by 
those who handle it before it is used as the basis of classification. This 
report presents information assembled through a recent study of various meth- 
ods of sampling cotton in the United States and of closely related practices 
insofar as they are associated with representativeness of the samples drawn. 
It is known that disparities can and do occur in the classification 
of samples from the same bales of cotton by different classers. As presum- 
ably such disparities may be due in part to differences in samples, this 
study was made by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics to obtain information 
1/ This study was made under the direct supervision of W. B. Lanham, leader 
of the Grade and Staple Statistics Section of the Division of Cotton Market- 
ing. Special credit is due to Arthur W. Palmer, formerly in charge of the 
Division of Cotton Marketing, who, in addition to general supervision, con- 
tributed helpful suggestions. 
