The Washington herald., 1908-05-03
.SAXONY WANTS COTTON SECT
Extensive Market There for Product
Of the South.
Special Agent Perkins shows How
Consumption Might BE Increased
with PrOht to America.

A. G. Perkins. special agent Of the State
Department. writing from Magdeburg
Germany, foresees an extensive market
in SsxOny 70. American cotton-seed meal
FOR the general purposes of feeding He
finds that much of # is already used
| there, and suggests that a much larger
market foI the product might be built
up with proper attention to the details
of shipment and the cultivation Of sentl-
ment among the cattle rajsers % she
Fatherland. In the course of his CON
munication to the department he says;
The province of Saxony. of which
Magdeburg is the capital, ranks first
among the provinces OF Germany in fer
tility Of soil, with 90 per cent of the total
area Of $4,000 acres devoted TO agricul-
ture. 81 per cent in meadows. ana 27 per
cent in pastures. The principal beet
sugar industry Of Germany is located in
this and bordering portions of the prov
inces Of Brunswick and Anhalt In culti-
waiting the lands oxen are used to a very
great extent and to consume the refuse
OF the sugar rehneries stock raising has
been extensively developed According
to the statistics OF 1906, the number of
live stock in this province at that time
was as follows: Cattle. S17. .SN; sheep
693. $40: horses. 2l9.333; hogs, I,562.6l0, and
goats, 2g, ,O2s.
While the consumption OF c0tton-seed
meal cannot be definitely determined, it
is a welI-known fact that more is con-
sumed here than in any other province in
Germany. and / think 5000 tons would be
a conservative estimate, though one Of
the dealers said as much as 75.000 tons
was consumed annually. Even this is
small quantity considering the fact that
practically all Of the live stock is STALL
fed 800 days Of the year, and the largest
portion the FUN 36j days.
Among the dealers Of Magdeburg I
find none with direct American connec-
ton, though a few Of the large firms are
members of the Association Of Cotton
seed Meal Importers at Hamburg and
buy through brokers or dealers at Ham
burg or Bremen. There are other large
firms. however. outside of this associa-
tion who in most cases have to pay the
ti0n, as the brokers are not allowed to
sell to them direct This puts another
burden on cotton-seed meal, which could
best be removed by some independent
exporter establishing an agency in
Magdeburg.
The business with Magdeburg can be
done on the same terms as with port
towns, T. e.. so much per ton Of 22lO
pounds O. T. Hamburg sixfv davst
draft against document, with banker
acceptance. or cash against documents
less I per cent. OF sales can be made al
a relatively higher price f. 0. b. cars
M9gdeburg per 900 kilos. bat in this case
weight would not apply. Correspondence
with these interior firms should be pref
eTably in the German language. The
quality most desired is bolted meal with
s. per cent protein and fat. and while
lower grades are often bought. mainly
on account Of the scarcity Of the best
grade, in most cases it is bolted on this
side and mixed with the high-grade meal,
and this mixture Is called German meal
Complaints are freely made Of Ameri-
can exporters knowingly shipping lower
than contract quality, and while in nearly
all cases proper allowances are made,
st.H this is very unsatisfactory and tends
tC reduce rather than increase the volume
of business. While among the dealers
there is a strong prejudice against ordi-
nary cotton-seed meal on account of the
lint and hulls. some believing that this
causes sickness in cattle, this seems to
be only a theory, and one which has
been pronounced incorrect by one of the
most eminent chemists in Germany