Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1917-11-02
government Specialists in Marketing
Explain Grades and Discuss the
Factors That Determine the Value
Uf Filcrs.

Cotton cannot be sold on its mer-
is until growers and buyers learn to
tnow its market value. Guesswork
now enters LARGELY into the sale of
,tis crop. Often the buyer judges
the farmers product all too casual
ly and offers safe price, which the
grower often Is obliged to accept be-
cause he needs money. This method
OF selling. which Is responsible for
heavy losses each year, will yield to
nore businesslike handling Of the
crop when the producer studies and
grades his product What he needs
to know about his cotton to be a
Judge of its value has recently been
stated In terms easily underestimate
BILE to the cotton grower by two spec
ialists In the Office of Markets of
the Cnited States Department of Az
riculture In Farmers Bulletin No
SO2. "The Classification of Ameri-
can Upland Cotton" The bulletin
tells how CHASING is done. how sam
pies are taken. and explains the use
OF the official standards.
When selling most short staple
cotton--three-fourths to one inch in
length--the grade Is usually the on
ly quality considered. Very little re-
gard is paid to the length of the sta
pie. although cotton having length
OF one inch Is unquestionably of a
higher value than that only three
fourths OF an inch long. Many times
discrimination is so careless that ev-
IN the grade counts for little with
the buyer. More attention is paid
to the staple in long staple or prem
ilm cOttin--One and one-eighth in
ches and longer which usually is
sold on type or samples Cotton
must be classified in order to deter
mine the con- para,ive values Of the
different qualities and to make buy
ing and selling more satisfactory by
providing descriptions when samples
are not available.
More Uniformity Shown.
Price quotations from various
markets throughout the United
States where the official cotton stan
dards were used during the 1866
season showed 10 uch more uniform
ity than existed before their general
seven-eights Of an inch to inch sta
pie sold for approximately seven
eighths Of a cent below middling.
and good middling sold for approx
imately half cent above middling
To learn to classify all the grades
and qualities of cotton requires
years Of experience. but the grower
need not know them all II he learns
to recognize three grades-lOw mid
ding. middling, and good middlins
he will be able to deal with most
OF the white cotton grown in the av-
erage season. BY prpcticing with a
full set OF types or official standards
for comparison, copies OF which are
furnished at a small charge by the
United States Department OF Agri-
culture. a knowledge of the other
grades may he obtained gradually.
! Four qualities should determine
the value Of cotton fihHr: On Grade
(2) color, CD length. and tb char
acter
Classification ACCOr1linu to Grade.
| With the reenactmcut of the Tn
tied States cotton futures act. Aug
ust IL, 1916. the following grades
for cotton were reprOm ulgated: On
Niddling fair, (2) strict good mid
ding. 60 good middling. b strict
middling. (5) middling, CO. stric'
low middling. tD low middling, tS)
strict good ordinary. 90 good or
dinarv This range of grrd's covers
practically all white Gotten grown
in an average season. Middline. a'
the name indicates is the middle ~
basic grade. and is the g''vi" upor
which the market quotations are
based. All grades above niddlinf
should bring a higher price and al
below should bring n lower price
than that quoted for middlirg. th'
amount above or below val|ins nc
cording to the commercial 3iIferen
ces in us" where the cotton /; mar
kcted. When cotton is not whit" ~
nature or class T. custOmaril1 indi
Gated my modifying terms. ~ som
market sthere may he severa class
os OF the same grade of cotton. tina
Is middling off color, middlinv spot
tod. middling yellow tinged CT mid
ding yellow, or middling blue stain
cd
Tho grade Of cotton il deter D,'ne'
nv three factors: On Foreign T,at
ter or imnurities; such as leaf. dust
sand. notes. and cut seed: t2l col
or: and t3l quality of the ginnir.,.
Classification According 10 Color.
The color standards rcestabli 'ht'
and promulgated Immediately ate
the enactment of the cotton future
act. August, 1916. were as follows:
| yellow tinged cotton OF the grad
of low middling.
yellow tinged cotton of the grad
OF strict low middling.
yellow tinged cotton of the grad
OF middling,
Yellow tinged cotton OF the grad
OF strict middling.
yellow tinged cotton of the grad
OF good middling,
Yellow stained cotton OF the grad
OF middling.
Yellow stained cotton OF the grad
OF strict middling.
| Oottn,. Of a{ paI cation ~ thu grad