The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1913-09-11

900 the preceding year. It was
true that he was requiring meal
for feed to be made Of sound
seed 80 as to not do the animal
more harm than good, but the
demand was greater for meal
Tor fertilizer and in that regard
1T made very little difference so
far as the meal was concerned
whether the seed was damaged
or not. He had already appeal
ed to the crushors to manufac-
ture feed meal out of sound
seed, he said. He said he had
long deprecated the "cutthroat"
methods employed by the mills
in the State in buying cotton
seed. He cited instances fall
ing under his own observation
OF where the farmer had got
only SIS per ton for his seed
when the price for prime seed
was ranging around 1913 per ton.
He doubted if there was any
more intelligence displaced in
passing on the quality of seed
than in many instances in the
socalled grading Of corn, and
there was indeed a necessity for
bringing the deduction to q
graduated and intelligent basis
for damage and not longer per-
hitting wholesale deductions
for damage that might not
more than barely exist.
Commissioner Watson stated
tn t he was willing to agree to
the proposed system Of grades,
provided the committee from
the crushers was willing to
haye the grading done under
the direction of the State de-
partment of agriculture, by ex-
perts in charge of State Chem
ist Summers and provided the
samples to be examined were
drawn in a fair manner under
directions prepared by the COM
missioner of agriculture, the re-
port Of the State chemist being
final. to be accepted by the pur-
chasing mill. Commissioner
Watson stated to the committee
that this would n~ecessitate the
employment by the State chem
J ist, during certain seasons, of
I at least one extra man and that
the law did not permit him to
employ that man; but he was
willing for the chemist to select
his assistant provided the as
ISOLATION would meet the nee
essary expense, it being under
| stood that the association would
have no control over thd help so
employed.
PROPOSITION ACCEPTED
This proposition was promptly
agreed to by the committee and
acquiesced by Prof. Harper and
MIR. Reid. There was some dis
cussion as to the advisability of
offering a premium on the max
imum price to be paid for cot
ton seed when seed was offered
showing absolutely the top
grade. Finally it was deter
mined that the very series of
grades themselves offered to the
farmer a premium for carefully
caring for his seed and carrying
it to the market in as near
prime condition as he could
possibly do. Then the grading
system was adopted unanimous
~ and on the part of the mills
the committee undertook to be-
gin Immediately a campaign of
education.
The representatives Of the de-
partment Of agriculture of Glenn
son college and Of the farmers
union undertook to point out to
all cotton growers the value to
then of using every possible en-
deavor to carefully care for, ex-
anime and handle their seed in !
such manner Is to get it to the
market in the best possible shape
and to urge them when they
had particularly badly damaged
seed to put that seed in the
ground for fertilizer and not Of
fer it for sale, the mills having
declared through their commit
tee that they did not wish to
buy this latter class of seed at
any price.
GRADE STANDARDS
The following is the system
OF grading adopted:
Prime cotton seed shall be
clean. dry and sound, free from
dirt, trash and foreign matter.
Seed not comming up to require
ments of prime seed shall be
considered off seed. All seed
shall be graded before unloading
as follows: Take 10 representa-
iiNo cnmnloc oE ono nn.,aI -