The Harrison times., 1914-10-03
MOVE FOR COTTON STANDARD
Same Grade Names Used in Nearly
All Markets With Different Mean
lnas Causes Confusion.

will be done away with before long.
An important step In this direction is
the preservation by the department of
agriculture OF 80 sets Of official sam
Piles Of each grade in large vacuum
| tubes In these tubes there is no light
to bleach, no air to oXidize, and no
moisture to permit mildew. The sam
pies, therefore, remain permanently
unchanged and provide an authorita'
tive standard from which other stand
ards may be prepared and issued by
the department for use in grading com
mercial lots
This standard Is the outcome Of an
act passed by the Slxtieth congress-
authorizing the establishment Of nine
official grades to be named as follows
Middling fair, strict good middllng,
good mlddling, strict mlddling, mid
ding, strict low middling, low mid.
ding, strict good ordinary and good
ordinary In this system Of grading
middling is taken as n basis, The
grade names containing the word
strict are known In the trade as half
grades, the others as full grades.
The grade Of cotton is dependent
upon the amount Of foreign matter or
impurities, such as leaf, dirt and sand,
which 1t contains, and also the quan.
tity Of strings, notes, neps, gin-cut
fiber, cut seed and unripe fiber; and
also to a certain extent color In de.
termInIng the amount Of foreign mat.
ter IN the cotton the weather Is q
very important factor, either wind or
rain being often responsible for an
unusually large quantity Of art or
sand Much Of this foreign matter
can be taken out by the use Of clean
ing attachments at the gin and If the
cotton is sold strictly by grade, there.
fore, the cost Of this process (due to
loss in weight can be recovered in the
markets. The various impurities and
kinds Of defects already mentioned
cause waste IN manufacture and for
this reason the fewer OF them the
cotton contains the higher price It
should bring,
In addition to the grade, cotton is
also classed by It's color The most
desired Is bright cream This how.
ever, is lost II the cotton is left in
the field too long or It may be altered
by heavy falls Of rain, The soil also
has a distinct effect upon the color Of
cotton The United States official
standard requires that all cotton grad.
ing strict good mddllng or better
should be Of bright cream or white
color and free from discolorNtlon, In
the lower grades q fixed color Is not
| so much insisted upon Tho variations
In color, however, have given rise to
several trade names which II would be
well for all persons interested IN cot.
ton to famiIarIzo themselves with,
There are standard or white "off
color" fair color" spotted "tInged,"
and stained" by adding these to
the grade names different classes Of
the same grade are formed,
In considering prlc0a OF cotton II
should bo remembered that the yOrI'
ous grades do not indicate In any way
the length Of staple, II ~ usual 10 call
cotton that averages one and one,
eighth inches or more In length staple
cotton, and that less than one and one.
eighth inches short staple cotton,
Length'typos are being issued by the
department Of agriculture In eo,opera,
tlon with the census bureau Little
difference is made In the price for tho
various lengths Of short staple cotton
but there Ia tendency ut present to
make closer distinctions In this re.
Bpeet,
AZ the present time the differences
In price for the various grades are
fixed three times each year on tho
New York cotton exchange, This rule,
however has recently been revised
and beginning on September ., 1914,
the price differences will be adjusted
monthly, On September T. 1914 the
Liverpool market will adopt the new
standards which It has agreed upon.
These are much like the United States
atSBaard, except that the word fully
IL used for our word strict The lower
grades In the Liverpool scale also have
wider color variation than the United
states standards permit
Although the grover may ind that
for practical purposes II Ia suf1eiont
that ho can distinguish between the
three important grades OF low mid,
ding, mlddllns and good middlns, the
types OF which are being prepared and
sold by the department for 1850, 9th.
ere In the cotton tr0doa are compelled
TO be more exact For their purposes
a full set Of ofllcIal cotton grades, each
set showing nine grades, can bo OBJ
talned from tho United States depart.
mcnt Of agriculture at $40 set, The
cotton to be graded n OF course com
pared with these onlelal grades, The
work OF grading can beat be done In a
room with u north light or skylIght
Great care should be taken 10 see that
none OF the trash Of the commercial
cotton falls over tho standard grades
and these grades should also be caro-