The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1906-10-05
FARMER AND PLANTER
TAsE IN COTTON MARKETING.
The Present System Means an Enor-
nous Loss to the Farmer.


The Present System Means an Enor-
nous Loss to the Farmer.
There Is serious leakage in the
cotton business as at present conduct
ed. All Of our cotton that goes
abroad is sold at net weight; that is
to say. certain arbitrary percentage
is deducted to cover the weight of
the bagging and ties, for the spinner
only wants to pay for the actual cot
ton and not for bagging and ties,
which are worthless to him.
This is all right, provided we get
paid for the actual number of pounds
In each bale, as the price is more
when bought at net weight than at
gross weight. But abuses have crept
into the business until, under existing
conditions, we are making the buyers
a present Of or 10 pounds of net cot
ton with every bale we sell them, or
about 80 cents bale at present prices.
Why the Percentage Of Tare Is Wrong
When the deduction for the bagging
and ties, or the tare, as it is called,
was fixed at per cent. of the. gross
weight, this was about right Cotton
weighed about four hundred and fifty
pounds per bale, was wrapped with
close and heavy bagging with side
pieces on each side and tied with
heavy ropes. All this weighed about
twenty-seven pounds. which Is exactly
6 per cent. OF $50 pounds, leaving 433
pounds of actual cotton, just wha. was
In the bale, to be paid for by the
spinner. After awhile the railroad
charges being SO much per bale, re-
CARELESS of weight farmers and others
saw 1t was to their interest to make
the bales heavy. They began to do
this until In Texas the average weight
runs considerably over 500 pounds. In
the meantime iron ties were invented,
and the bagging trust put such ex.
orbitant prices on their product that
the ginners, for self-protection, were
forced to buy the lightest and flimsiest
stuff they could get. A pattern Of two
pound bagging, such as is generally
used, and six ties, weigh 81 pounds,
instead Of the 81 pounds with heavy
bagging, side pieces and rope ties as
formerly.
The Actual Figures.
Now, let us figure out the practical
working of the business to-day. Say
the farmer has hauled 1850 pounds
of seed cotton to the gin, and that it
nets him 511 pounds of lint, to which
should be added the weight of the
bagging and ties, Fl pounds, making
the total gross weight 432 pounds.
The first thing done when this cot
ton Is invoiced to the foreign buyer
is to deduct per cent, which equals
80 pounds, or II pounds more than
the actual tare. If the bales reached
the European spinner in this condi-
ton it would not be so bad, but they
do not. The buyer or Spectator who
handles this cotton makes 1t his bust
ness to see that the spinner pays for
the 511 pounds of lint cotton actually
in the bale. He does this by adding ex-
ira bagging, side pieces and old sugar
sacks until he gets the weight up to
figure, 6 per cent, Of which deducted
from the increased gross will leave
about 511 pounds, the actual weight
of the lint cotton; and this Is what
the spinner pays for, though it is II
pounds more than the producer gets
paid for.
Two Remedies.
There are two remedies: One is to
make the bale lighter; the other to
sell cotton net weight. All Egyptian
cotton Is sold net weight, and they
wrap their cotton with burlap instead
Of jute bagging.
The following recommendations
were made at the Washington confer
ence:
% That all bales be made of stand
ard dimensions.
ca That lightweight buflap or cot
ton canvas be used for covering.
90 That all cotton be bought and
sold net weight.
Making BaggiEs From Cotton.
Under the present system of de-
Quoting an arbitrary percentage to
cover the weight of bagging and ties
we are forced as matter of self
protection to use the heaviest bag
ging that can be obtained, and then
suffer a loss of from eight to ten
pounds per bale, while If the cotton
is sold net weight it can be covered
with cotton duck or light burlap, and
the seller would suffer no loss. An
other thing that makes this necessary
is the jute bagging trust is gradually
advancing the price of bagging. The
time Is not far distant when we will
erect in the south a factory for con-
verting low grades of cotton into bag
ging to be used instead Of jute.
Saving Millions to Cotton Farmers.
Should the practice we advocate
become general throughout the Cot
ton Belt 1t will result in direct saw
ing to the cotton growers of from
S., O0O,O 900 to $1O,00O,O0O every year;
and what is best of all, it will stop
to large extent the practice of the
spectators who sell to Europe every
spring and summer many millions of
bales of cotton before it is made, with
very little regard to the price they
get. They do this believing that how
ever low they sell they can put the
southern market down during the free
movements of the crop SO they can
buy at profit, patch and add to weights