DEMAND FOR CUT HAY ALMOST A THING OF THE PAST.

General Use of Automobiles and Electric Street Cars Cuts Sales—Was Used Mostly in Cities.

The demand for cut, or chopped, hay has diminished to such an extent during the past decade that at present only an occasional car is bought by city dealers while only a few shippers prepare this commodity for market.

But back in the days when phaetons, surreys, and smart traps drawn by high-stepping trotters and easy-going “family” horses were seen upon the boulevards, and the heavy hauling was done by big draft horses rather than by gasoline-eating trucks, many city dealers operated plants for the preparation and baling of cut hay. Numerous plants also were situated in the producing sections of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The advent of the automobile, however, has changed all this, aided materially by the substitution of electricity for mule power as the propelling force of street cars.

The kinds of hay usually chopped were timothy and clover mixed. While hay which had become slightly overripe or which contained a mixture of grasses frequently was used, only good, sound, and sweet feeding hay was considered fit for shipping.

FED MIXED WITH GRAIN.

Cut hay is generally fed mixed with grain and is considered an excellent feed, as it prevents the stock from eating the concentrated grain ration too rapidly. The hay is usually dampened when used in this manner. This is one of the disadvantages of feeding it for if more than enough is mixed for one feed and it is not fed within a short time it is likely to sour if the weather is warm, or possibly freeze if the weather is cold. This condition, together with the labor and bother of mixing, has caused feeders in many instances to turn to ready-mixed and molasses feeds.

However, for feeders who desire to prepare their own mixed feed ration the cut hay is probably the most convenient ingredient that can be used to produce the required bulk.

IMPORTS OF FORAGE-PLANT SEEDS.

The Seed Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry reports the following imports of forage-plant seeds permitted entry into the United States under the seed importation Act.

The cleaning, if any, that the average farmer gives his seed merely removes dirt, chaff, and weed and other foreign seeds that are much larger or smaller or much heavier or lighter than the kind of seed that is being cleaned.

PRICES OF SPOTS AND FUTURES CONTINUE TO ADVANCE.

Condition of Crop Poorest on Record—Production Estimated at Only 6,537,000 Bales.

Perhaps the main feature in the cotton markets for the week ending Oct. 1 was the sensational advance in prices which occurred on Sept. 27. That day was the first day for the issuance of notices of deliveries to be made on October future contracts at the two future exchanges and it is reported that the notices issued were for more than 80,000 bales at New York and over 20,000 bales at New Orleans. However, in spite of these notices of heavy deliveries, the demand for October contracts during the day was such that the price at New York rose 1³⁄₄¢ per lb. and at New Orleans nearly 1¹⁄₂¢ over the low point reached early in the morning.

The closing prices for October future contracts for that day were 21.03¢ at New York and 20.70¢ at New Orleans, or 143 points and 135 points, respectively, above the closing prices of the previous Saturday. The average price of middling in the 10 designated markets reached 20.89¢ per lb. on Sept. 27, or very nearly $5 per bale higher than at the close of the previous week.

TRADE APPREHENSIVE.

Only the better grades of cotton are deliverable on future contracts so that probably one of the main causes of the keen demand for October contracts was the apprehension that the present crop will not only be the smallest for many years but that it will also be of low grade, as is indicated by reports from some sections.

During the remainder of the week prices eased off somewhat under heavy hedge selling and liquidation by long interests, but indications were that the demand for future contracts, as well as for spot cotton during the entire week, was fully equal to the offerings. The end of the week found prices higher than those prevailing at the close of the previous week except for the prices for the more distant months, which were a few points lower.

The average price of Middling as determined from the quotations of the 10 designated spot markets closed at 20.71¢ per lb. on Oct. 1, compared with 19.92¢ at the close of the previous week and 23.11¢ for the corresponding day in 1920.

Fluctuations in prices for futures ranged from a decline of 27 points for July future contracts at New York to an advance of 88 points for October futures in the same market. October futures on the New Orleans Cotton Exchange advanced 70 points. October future contracts on the Liverpool Cotton Association closed at 14.68d. per lb. on Sept. 30, compared with 14.16d. at the close of the previous week and 17.23d. for the corresponding day in 1920.

SPOT SALES LARGER.

Spot sales during the week at the 10 designated markets were much larger than they have been for any week this season. They amounted to 209,938 bales, compared with 155,954 the previous week and 96,095 bales for the corresponding week in 1920. On Sept. 28 the sales in the 10 markets were 59,929 bales, the largest single day’s sales for this season. The previous largest day’s sales for the season, involving 38,504 bales, occurred on Sept. 6. The total sales in the 10 designated markets from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 were 980,146 bales, compared with 503,135 for the corresponding period last year. (Sales for 1920 exclude Dallas.)

SPOT COTTON QUOTATIONS.

Price of Middling spot cotton for Oct. 1, and the commercial differences in price between Middling and other grades of American Upland cotton at each of the 10 markets named, together with the total number of bales sold during the week ending Oct. 1, in each of the markets, as reported to the Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates.

Commercial reports indicate that trading in cotton goods has broadened and that, while the demand for goods in small quantities and under frequent orders is rather active, there is still uncertainty as to the effect of higher prices on the consumption of goods.

The crop reporting board of the Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates on Oct. 3. 1921, estimated that the condition of the cotton crop on Sept. 25 was 42.2% of normal, compared with 49.3% on Aug. 25, 59.1% on Sept. 25, 1920, 54.4% on Sept. 25, 1919, and 62.4% the average on Sept. 25 of the past 10 years.

A condition of 42.2% on Sept. 25 forecasts a yield per acre of about 118 lbs. and a total production of about 6,537,000 bales of 500 lbs., gross. In 1920 the production was 13,439,603 bales; in 1919, 11,420,763; in 1918, 12,040,532; in 1917, 11,302,375; and in 1916, 11,449,930 bales.

The condition of the crop on Sept. 25 is the lowest on record and the estimated production is less than that for any year since 1884 when 5,682,000 bales were produced.

The preliminary report of the Bureau of the Census issued on Oct. 3, showed 2,907,950 bales ginned prior to Sept. 25, compared with 2,249,606 bales for the corresponding period last year and 1,835,214 bales for 1919. The figure for 1921 is subject to slight corrections when checked with individual returns of the ginners being transmitted by mail.

Closing Future Prices for Oct. 1 and for the Corresponding Days in 1920 and 1919.

Stocks of Government-Classed Cotton at Future Markets.

Inspected cotton, Government-classed, in warehouses at the ports of New York and New Orleans on Sept. 30, and on the corresponding day in 1920, of the grades tenderable on future contracts made on the exchanges in these markets subject to section 5 of the United States cotton futures Act as amended:

Total stocks of cotton, all kinds, on Sept. 30. at the port of New York were 147,822 bales and for the corresponding day in 1920, 25,594 bales; at the port of New Orleans, 426,488 bales, and for the corresponding day in 1920, 206,460 bales.

Cotton Movement and Exports from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30.
[Information from commercial sources.]

Exports for the week ending Sept. 30, amounted to 147,591 bales, compared with 86,204 bales the previous week and 109,498 bales for the corresponding week in 1920. The total exports from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 were 870,698 bales, compared with 457,750 bales in 1920.

Exports of American Cotton from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30.

Premium Staple Cotton.

A fair demand for premium staple cotton is reported at New Orleans and a good demand at Memphis. Some of the sales in these two markets during the week were as follows:

The average premiums quoted in the New Orleans and Memphis markets for the staple lengths specified are stated below for Middling cotton based on Middling short staple cotton at 20¹⁄₂¢ per lb. at New Orleans and 21¢ at Memphis on Oct. 1, 1921, and 23¢ per lb. at New Orleans and 25¢ at Memphis on Oct. 2, 1920.

The latest quotations received for Pima American-Egyptian cotton are 40¢ per lb. for No. 2 grade and 37¢ for No. 3 grade f. o. b. New England mill points.

Telegraphic advices indicate that Egyptian Sakellaridis cotton for prompt shipment is quoted at 63⁷⁄₈¢ per lb. for the grade Fully Good and 49⁵⁄₈¢ for the grade Good Fair on c. i. f. terms landed at Boston or New York.

COTTONSEED PRICE QUOTATIONS.
Week Ending Sept. 24.

Imports of Wool at Two Ports.

Imports of wool through the port of Philadelphia during the two weeks ending Oct. 1 totaled 2,842 bales, weighing 1,203,247 lbs., valued at $129,462. Imports at Boston during the same period totaled 802 bales, weighing 330,551 lbs., and having a valuation of $42,821. In addition, 128 bales of mohair, weighing 64,694 lbs., valued at $9,375, were received at Boston.

WOOL CONSUMPTION REPORT FOR AUGUST.
Quantities Entering into Manufacture According to Condition, Classes, and Grades.
[In thousands of pounds; i. e., 000 omitted.]