The Dermott news., 1917-08-23
HOW ID MAKE YOUR
 COTTON GRADE UP
Must Be Harvested Promptly and Handled Promptly To Get
 Top Price.
By w. F. AyNs. Arkansas Experi
 ment Station.

Now that the cotton crop is practi' cally made it is necessary that 1t Do 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 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 Pickin0s Necessary.
 If the cotton crop is to be harvested in the best condition at least three piCkings are necessary. PlckinR should be begun as soon as a good picker can pick l25 pounds per day. A second picking should be made when three-four'hs 10 fye-siSths of the crop is open third picking should b. made before the frosted "tpp crop" opens The frosted cor. ton should be harvested but should never be mixed with the superior col. ton of earlier haryestS. The same Is true of faulty bolls and locks and weathered cotton from 'he ground
 Have Clean Costor.
 To pick cotton free from trash re- quires more labor than 10 merely gather" fl. and all unnecessary trash should be avoided Clean cotton pro duces better grade and therefore sells for Il better price. Mixing in. ferior cotton with cotton of bette!' quality always mean loss. This lnss is varia ble. but may. in extreme cases. amount 10 fifteen or twenty dollars per bale By mixing small amounts as much as one hundred pounds-sof poor cotton with cotton ot the first picking bales are often produced which sell for less than they wouli have brought had the poor cotton been Jeff cut.
 Keep Gotten Dry.
 Ample storage room sheuId be pro vided so that no picked cotton will have te be exposed to the weather. With the coming of 9. cent cotton tie practice of bling picked cotton OF the ground in the field should sure ly cease
 Cotton picked while wet should be spread over the top of the pile. or an a sheet in the sun and dried thor oughly Maps and gin cuts result from ginning wet cotton. Bales carrying these imperfections are always bought l at discount
 The back yard or lot k too often used as a storekouse for haled cotton. l The bales are often thrown off in such places for flew days" which last l for months. Gotten SO exposed ah. sorhs moisture and blues frots) Such cotton sells for eight 10 twenty dol. lars less than f would have brought had | been properly stored All bales should b. housed or al least ] put of the ground under shed - i THEY SHOULD RE KEPT DRY.
 Don't Sell Cotton in the Seed
 The practice of selling cotton in he seed is another source of loss No : l per cent lint nor the shrinkage due ] 70 moisture. of seed cotton. For this reason all buyers of such cotton must buy at low figures to avoid risk t is safe guess that cotton sold in l the seed brings len dollars per bale less than it is worth
 The state produced i.i34 ooO bales of cotton in 1916, worth approximate. ly sl00. 900 000 II is safe to estimate that on such crop no less than B. 000, GOO would have been saved hy oh serving the six cotton don'ts:
 Six Cotton DonYs.
 Don't let open cotton remain in the field.
 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 tho ground in the open.
 Don't gin damp cotton.
 Don't allow baled cotton to take the weather.