Sharp County record., 1917-08-31
HOW TO MAKE YOUR
COTTON GRADE UP
Must Be Harvested Promptly and
Handled Promptly To Get
Top Price.
BY w. E. Ayres, Arkansas Expert
ment Station.

Now that the cotton crop is practi'
cally made it is necessary that it be
harvested promptly and handled
properly, Cotton is sold on the best
markets on the basis of its grade.
Quality Of lint, color, amount of trash
and dirt, tinges and stains, and gin
cuts are the factors which determine
the grade of a cotton sample. The
highest grades are produced by cotton
from the first picking if this picking
is done at the proper time and with
proper care.
Three PIckings Necessary.
If the cotton crop is to be harvested
In the best condition at least three
pickings are necessary. Picking
should be begun as soon as good
picker can pick 125 pounds per day.
A second picking should be made
when three-fourths to five-sixths Of
the crop is open. A third picking
should be made before the frosted
"top crop" opens. The frosted cot
ton should be harvested but should
never be mixed with the superior cot
ton of earlier harvests. The same is
true Of faulty bolls and locks and
weathered cotton from the ground,
Have Clean Cotton.
To pick cotton free from trash re.
Quires more labor than to merely
gather" it, and all unnecessary trash
should be avoided. Clean cotton pro-
duces better grEe and therefore
sells for better price. Mixing in.
ferior cotton with cotton of better
quality always mean loss, This loss
is variable, but may, in extreme cases,
amount to fifteen or twenty, dollars
per bale. BY mixing small amounts
as much as one hundred pounds--of
poor cotton with cotton of the first
picking, bales are often produced
which sell for less than they would
have brought had the poor cotton
been left out.
Keep Gotten Dry.
Ample storage room should be pro.
vided so that no picked cotton will
have to be exposed to the weather.
With the coming of rs cent cotton the
practice Of piling picked cotton on
the ground in the field should sure
ly cease
Cotton picked while wet should be
spread over the top Of the pile, or on
sheet in the sun and dried thor
oughly. Maps and gin cuts result from
ginning wet cotton. Bales carrying
these imperfections are always bought
at discount.
The back yard or lot is too often
used as storehouse for baled cotton.
The bales are often thrown off in such
places for "few days" which last
for months. Cotton so exposed alb
serbs moisture and blues (rots). Such
cotton sells for eight to twenty dol
lars less than 1t would have brought
had 1t been properly stored. All
bales should be housed or at least
put Off the ground under a she'd
THEY SHOULD BE KEPT DRY.
Don't Sell Cotton In the Seed.
The practice Of selling cotton in the
seed ia another source Of loss. No
buyer can determine the grade, the
per cent lint, nor the shrinkage due
to moisture, Of seed cotton. For this
reason all buyers Of such cotton must
buy at low figures to avoid risk. II
is safe guess that cotton sold in
the seed brings ten dollars per bale
less than II is worth.
The state produced 1,134,000 bales
Of cotton in 1916, worth approximate.
ly s1o0,000,000. It is safe to estimate
that on such crop no less than $5,-
100000 would have been saved by oh.
serving the six cotton don'ts:
Slx Cotton pon'ts.
Don't let open cotton remain In the
Aeld.
Don't harvest any more trash than
can be avoided.
Don't mix inferior cotton with that
Of better quality
Don't pile picked cotton on the
ground In the open.
Don't gin damp cotton,
Don't allow baled cotton to take the
weather,