Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / July 24, 1915, edition 1 / Page 13
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tarda Mr 24 1S1S1 Six k 1 I HI " ' i i v 11 i j . . y v t,ftr incompetency, of. our present mar T! keting methods was tragically illustrated last As a matter of fact.' the folly, -of our By CLARENCE POE tary of Agriculture IX F. Houston, Washington; D; C, and urge their help I in getting an international . conference on cotton tare. ill ,m every year tnatcuxu , , tum (se-wbat Mr. Brand savs about - rnttnn " ' so standards on another mere.! num-" 'i-' 5 i.t.A -mon: that -ftrae-Iastmfif ,jreffvrTn!-:..-..-v . . " r every .. - . smraia De introduced at the. next session of Arkansas Ccitcn Mzrkctnrr Plans ought to resuu. Time for Reform in JCptton Grcdmg- each Southern Legislature. and pushed through to tt- rtpr rpform' is needed -rsf in the OlNlll pidV, ----i , , - matter of grading, -It a .probably true that" j nn other-producer -of a, commercial -product in all tne iv : .? --s, - . - facie or system m eradtnsr hrs cotton an evil j.rm-arlinff than has -the .cotton, grower of the t ,-",'lun d ra undergoing inau b nght at.fes own doors but hc w.alg0 fhe Southern staie - -7 -l!T' "li -I -oL colossal interiiaUonal conspiracy in the. matter should De inage-.m rus vwu wusc, auu .yct, f rnffmi farp pr,;Mii . . " r ThcProblem of Cotton Tare OT only does the Southern cotton fanner lose millions rf dollars annually as a result of the .nn cr .. immemorial; the. cotton buyer has been .i.. iA as to the grades' of . cotton K; trie juufj- " v ; - . iu mis cviij, om usuuci him, wnne nuiw 6 i 7? I . ' Europe takes most of our cotton croa andnat- handled "by of cotton tare. Practically everv summer for ten years The- Progressive Farmer has called attention to this evil, bat ft still continues ,ell whether mat K-s ff uralty fees the price of cotton. Now Europe buys. ot It anyway on the basis o( t Th . results have been let htm senfire cents, to tbeD,- on e,a(Kpaulld bale o $lle asMme3 vision of .W.JSKS? e tagging-and ties, will weigh 6 pef cent Agriculture and get the bnllettn cot on marfet- tti Jn d - ton county in whien tne, state ana aonai ucpan- she m o ,.nt Ba.- as a mat-: ments of Agriculture sent cottoj graders last m, ter of fact the Somhern famer does not t on and the farmers of that county sarhateyer tW of b b and . and sq hg ves until then did they get recognition for grades more lint8ctt5on tW fon feAad . above good middling. .And 4n 'this connection the..wtt,c it has been denIedt, some we believe itis statement is made by Senator J: L. McLaunn, ' Warehouse Commissioner of Sonth Carolina, that not one bale of cotton out of a, thousand is sold to the mills on which the buyer -does not make a profit on the grading jn addition to his legitimate,, profit as a buyer. Insuring Proper Grading of Cotton s SIX THINGS COTTON FARMERS SHOULD DO NOW OME remedy must be found; and found quickly, " for this condition. Here is a report that comes to us from Robeson' County N C.-: , - "As a result of agitation and demand by the County Union, the recent Legislature -appoint ed a public cotton::ighcT....aad,:.graden:fQr'" Lumberton and Maxtom ,iAhy other 4 market that wants one. (;get' iamerbyrpetitioiiing . the board of county r coritmissioners. This' weigher and grader, wilt dor alt the weighing ... . and grading and the buyers joust., be governed by his decision For his workherwill reeerre eight cents per bale, f oiir cehts' to be paH' bjr the seller and four by the btryer. .These grad ers will have a pufclie-yard for. grading, and i. after the baleas been weighed and graded a,' card giving the wwght'ind'grade will be tied" What WP rnltv tvArl tnivAtrr- ?e Ttrwt 1rmt TpptS- nrettv: well established that, exporters do put on, lation applying only -to. cent of tare, although not allowing: eral state laws for licensmggradersarid regulating the farmer: to do so. ' their business. udi:legisTatk)nf oicbutse,; , be -very carefully: conlsidefedt aVaiibasw .for, prf rjj Tnt mAhrl Crf ggRfie On Tare uuun wp are glad to, noticev;tne. Dili lntroaucea THREE GENERAL NEEDS Demand a state cotton wareheMtin sys tem in every cotton-growing state. . " 2. " Demand an international conference to end the cotton tare robbery. 3. Demand state laws to insure' proper 1 ; : ' THREE LOCAL IIFJEDS : I " j. L Get cotton ' growers of year neignboff- , Lood to meet at once and arrange for poolings cotton and selliitg together this fall ' - Z.... Pool cotton seed also and get a fair cash price or & fair exchanger in meaJL" , . X See your local banks, find out how nrach they v will lend on cotton, and, support the . ... " -..-. ..' . . . " , , hankers who support the farmer aa this way. JJto the Georgia Legislattrre by Mr. Adams of the - vjr-uuru oenaioriat iistncx... nrs esseniiaiaca tores, aPart from Te'glaticWSfTeeien are given in the it&toinriv.kAm?& "Section-l'v passage of this act, baled 'cotton offered for sale in the state oi Georgshl: be graded ; and classified according I to thestaEdardX': grades fixed by the United States. Agricultural Department. ' ::&&& Sec. 2. That anv rkrshn rirtihcrbaie4itv ; OMMISSIONER Graham of North Carolina in ' a recent letter tb Secretary Houston gives the f tstoxical elattatioa of the matter hysaymg: , "Prior to 1865 the weight of a bale of cotton : was generally '350' pounds. The bagging and ties then, as now. weighed 21 to 22 pounds, that ? 'i isj, .per cent of the weight of a bale at that " timei and that amount was fixed by the Iiver- ; pool authorities m this ' subject as the tare. : Since that time , the weight of the bale has ; S been increased to SQO pounds or more, but 6 f ia stilt futeiTas the tare, which is ton offered fnr- e-iiA Woii - i:e..v ffrtWi the State Warehouse ConmiisdoheZ whp-shaU": ? or about eight pounds more, than the sue a commission scotton in the :. animation, which Petency of the applicant to properly classify- -; ,es standard grades." - ;r ; Cu ' - V . -f -ec s it further enacted by ' the authoxi-f .aforesaid, that an persoawho ihallwilf iilly isgrade a bale of.ott6ri nttereA for sale in. . . ?arga shall be guiltypf a misdemeanor, each: "die constitutino- ?i i.4.4. i;- 1 " The remedy lies, we believe, as the Association of Sbnthern: Agricultural Workers asserts, m an international conference to revise the. tare stand ard. South Carolina has. passed a law requiring buyers "to allow-farmers to put on the full 6 per centr but naturally there is difficulty in enforcing one tare; rule in,. one- cotton-producing state, and oinntWr miff in another state. The real solution instituting . i separate; and distinct ?of- : tnajkiniriy y titm for a conference witn ungnsn ;Tcprescui- or imprisonment for t mbre! United SI tt0n twenty-five points from liVel and provide that hereafter the tare should be orima standard - grade shaU constUute , onlY sav 4r per cent. Then Europe would allow Pan of CVldence of wilful intent on ; the . ' iallyVX pounds of bagging and ties on a 500- for sale PerSOn jading the cotton offered : P ound bale of cotton and - pay for cotton a price .tvery MmrrZiL&L i w nf allowihff thirty pounds for atte t wt s"uzanon in tne ooutn snonia ,; ps v- k . . . , - - . Ml sbn'u ,n th!s Problem, and a' satisfactory, tare. ' . , V m uu state m.T.e worked ..out in cOoperat on- w th Every farmer interesa . j " V'VZ tC marketig bureaus and the Division of Mar- write to hi. United State. Senator and to Secre- TtjROGRESSXVE Farmer readers will recall the !. interesting article we published two years ago A about a farmers' cotton, marketing association at .Scott, Ark., in which case twenty-four growers, combined their interests, named a marketing agent, and obtained profits of from $2.50 to $5 a ' bale on the lint and $4 a tonTon cotton seed com pared with standard prices obtained by unorganiz ed farmers in that section This Scott organization "was effected by Presi dent H. S. Mobley, oi the Arkansas Farmers Un- " ion, who has done some notable work in this re spect. In an. interview in a Little Rock, paper last November.he gave the gist of his plan as follows: rr l . . -.-- wiu mcniuen are encouragea to DtHK tneir . - cotton in as large quantities as possible' he saw. samples or each bale are then forward- ed to the office of markets at' the old State, House in" Little Rock, where they are graded by a cotton grader sent from the Bureau of' Matkets at Washington. This bureau returns. uie ciassincauon toftne agent ot tne parties owning the cotton, and at the same time the. " samples are displayed in the office of our State ' Secretary, J. H, Fry, which is also located in. tne old btate riquse Buyers from air sources are -invited to visit this office and inspect, the ! samples and they make bids to Mr. Fry or ray self ,1s the case may be, which bids are for warded to the owners of the cotton. Thus the members of the Unioa are provided with ex- , " pert information as to the grade or merit of their, cotton and at the same time are furnish ed the opportunity of receiving bids from , . sources outside -of or beyond that whicri .'would be offered in their, local markets, ? "It almost always results, in their getting a. higher price than could be had by the non- . competitive manner of selling only to locat buyers. , Oneinstance of this was the sale last , Thursday at Paragonld The use of this meth- . od resulted in the -sellers of over 200 bales re ceiiring bids of $3 JS a ' hale above the prices offered locally before this method was1 made y effectfve in that market, 'and the total saved a : to the; producers of, this lot of cotton was a . ,little more than $750. -This was quite a snug sum and really benefited many more prodoc ers; tharr those ; immediately interested m that " "particular .sale,4 since it influenced the street ' price on other cotton sold in that market.' . . - : . .1 f r - . .. - f . In a letter just received in which he encloses this" clipping, Mr. Mobley says: v '. ' "Last year we handled about 10,000 bales of -; cotton and possibly 100 cars of; cotton seed at mwnt advannM, tr the trmvrfr over f rural tirfres. - paid for individual or small lot sales. ; This, year ' we expect an enormous increase m ine Busi ness, . and our membership has dou-. (v bled since we inaugurated these plans." :" . -. . . S ' : " Buyers9 Offices Should Be Grouped : . THERE are plenty of excellent . and honorable men in the cotton-baying business of . coarse, and in what we hare said in this article we do not mean to indict them as a class.- But so long, as such a large proportion of. the 'growers are ig norant both of prices arid grades the. opportuni ties 'for fraud are so great that honest cotton buyers have to' face an almost disastrtms competi tion. This good suggestion 'comes to tti from one thoughtful buyer who wishes to see: better condi tions prevail. He says .. "There is great need for establishing genu ine 'cotton exchaBges. in: towns; and cities such as market as ; many; a say, 10,000 bales.' The . buying of cotton h worked iri. Such a way in " ' most places" as to make it very tediotrs to the " buyers arid' farmers; For instance here the buyers are badly scattered over town and no one-of them gets a chance at one-half the re ceipts,, and some are sa poorly located that - they get a chance at less than one-fifth the -. receipts. The result is the farmer is deprived ' - of that much competition and the buyer who might pay one-fourth cent more, does not get . !;v a chance at- the cotton. . V: ; .. - Vv ;!:: , "If the cotton were sampled by a cotton ex- , ... change superintendent and displayed on the tables of the exchange where all buyers would , . , - (Concluded on page 17, this issue)
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 24, 1915, edition 1
13
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