Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-27
FREE GRADING
OF COTTON IN
. BONDED HOUSES

Establishment of a free and eN-
pert cotton grading service for the
benefit of cotton growers who store
cotton in warehouses bonded under
the United States warehouse act and
for the benefit of owners of such
warehouses was announced Saturday
by l.. b. jackson, director of the
bureau of markets of the state de-
partment Of agriculture.
The service will be rendered by
the state bureau in conjunction with
the fedral bureau of markets. The
details of the service were worked
out by Mr.. Jackson and f. G. Crout,
assistant in warehouse invest legations
of the federal bureau. These de-
tails have been submitted to Gov
ernor Dorsey, Governor Wellborn and
Chairman McCord of the Federal Re-
serve bank, and to others familiar
with the needs of the cotton grow
srs, both in warehousing and finance,
and have been heartily approved by
them. The service will be in opera
ton for the opening of the next cot
ton season.
As explained by Messrs. Jackson
and Crout, the service will function
as follows:
THE state bureau of markets
will furnish to all bonded ware
houses a supply of receptacles for
mailing cotton samples, and these
receptacles will bear the federal pos
tage frank and will be ready ad-
dressed to the state bureau of mar
ketS.
Cotton growers storing their
cotton in bonded warehouses may, If
they desire, have a sample taken
from each bale and sent to the state
bureau of markets in the receptacle
provided for that purpose, and the
sample will be sealed in the recep-
tacle and a number placed on it cor
responding to the number on the tag
of the bale.
3-When the sample arrives at the
state bureau of markets it will be
turned over to a staff of expert cot
ton graders, whose qualifications for
grading cotton in strict accordance
with the United States standard
grades will be approved by the fed
eral bureau of markets, and the grad
ers will grade it and issue in dupli-
cate a certificate of it's grade, and
the original certificate will be sent
to the owner of the cotton and the
duplicate to the owner of the ware
house in which it is stored.
4-This official certificate, attested
by the state bureau and the federal
bureau of markets, will afford the
owner of the cotton conclusive proof
as to the grade of each bale, and
upon this proof he will be able to
sell his cotton to the utmost advan-
tage, or to use his warehouse re-
ceipt to the utmost advantage as
collateral for a bank loan. Two
questions arise when a grower Of
fers cotton as collateral: Cd Where
is the cotton? (2) What is the grade
of it? Both of these questions can
be answered by a, grower to the sat
isfaction of any banker if the grower
| is able to present a receipt issued
| by bonded warehouse and a grade
certificate issued in the manner
above outlined.
$40 make use of the service, 1t
is necessary that a grower put his
cotton in a warehouse bonded under
the United States warehouse act, as
one Of the objects of the service is
to, encourage. the bonding of ware
ILOuSSSs 1I0
| it is stated, are not difficult the cost
is small; the bookkeeping is no more
than any country merchant is &C
customed to handling; the benefits
are numerous and substantial, both
from the standpoint of the owner of
the cotton, the owner of the ware
house and the banker accepting the
receipt as collateral.
AS a further inducement to own
| ers of warehouses to bond them.
selves in accordance with the United
States warehouse act, it was an.
nounced in connection with the free
cotton grading service that the state
market bureau has obtained from the
Southeastern Underwriters associa.
ton a differential fire insurance rate
of 25 per cent in favor of cotton
stored in bonded warehouses. In
other words, the insurance companies
will give rate rs per cent cheaper
on cotton stored in bonded ware.
houses than in non-bonded ware.
houses. This, in the opinion of Di.
rector Jackson. ought to be a mos
substantial inducement to encourage
warehouse owners to bond theil
warehouses, inasmuch as fire insur-
ance premiums are quite an item. II
the premiums are charged into the
storage paid by the owners of the
cotton, then they are as much of an
item to the grower as they would be
to the warehouse owner if he paid
the premiums.