The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-13
MIXED COTTON IS
CAUSE OF PROTEST
Manchester Says Practice
Will Make Lower Prices
for American Cotton

Washington, July 12-Cspecial)-Th
Manchester. Eng, Cotton association.
Ltd. following the congress of American
and European cotton exchanges and asso-
Citations, held in Liverpool June and ,,
has protested to the Secretary of Agri-
culture against the practice of certain
ginners of mixing various staple cottons
in the same bale. In the course of this
protest in which ths other associations
are to join. the Manchester organization,
through it's presidenr, states:
you will appreciate the serious con-
sequences that this growing practice
must have upon the quality of the Amer
lean cotton crop. thereby effectually re-
duo.ng its monetary value
They then urge the department of ag7
| ricrlture to make representation to the
cotton exchanges of the south, asking
them to inform the ginners of the neces-
sity for keeping different seed cottons
| of various staples separate. and not to
gin different qualities together.
Following the receipt of this letter, the
department of agriculture took the matter
up through the office of cooperative
cotton handling and marketing The fault,
it seems. lies largely with the ginner,
and results from the fact that he is
unwilling to take the time after ginning
one kind of cotton, to clean out the gin
ming machines before he introduces an
other staple. AS a result. the first layer
or part packed will contain some of the
cotton previously sinned. If the cotton
being ginned is long stapled, the mixture
of short cotton in this first plate or
layer win lessen the value of the bale
from $l.50 to 81, even though there be
only about 20 pounds of cotton affected.
The reason for this is that the cotton
merchants sample from each side of the
bale, and rate by the worst side, so
that such bale would be rated mixed
whereas 1S0 pounds of it might be long
staple. and only the first plate or layer
of about 10 or 20 pounds of mixed staple.
Even If the second run of cotton is
short staple, it loses in value by having
its first layer mixed with any other kind
of cotton.
The department urges particularly upon
cotton growers in the country to limit
their cotton growing to one variety or
else to provide themselves with seed cot
ton storage houses in which cotton of a
single staple Is stored Where storage
houses are used, the cotton producer can
take a large quantity at one time to the
gin and be certain that 1t Will not be
mixed with previous runs. Where, how
ever, he takes only a small quantity of
cotton at q time all these bales may
have first layer of mixed cotton. 1t
also urges upon cotton producers that
If they cannot provide themselves with
seed cotton storage houses and gin large
quantities at a time. to insist that the
f1o fl,o fr;x ,,o1,s,,
and take the old roll of previous cotton
out before ginning new cotton. This would
probably cost the sinner loss of time
of about $40 a day. but where frequent
changes In cotton are run, the losses
to the producers may well amount to $50
or more a day. The presence of mixed
first layer in cotton bales is found par
ticularly serious in times when cotton is
plentiful. When cotton is scarce, cotton
merchants are not SO particular; but
when cotton is plentiful they use the
presence of mixed layer as a weapon
to lower the price paid for the entire
bale. The loss to the producer in this
way is very heavy.