plant in the United States which stores and/or compresses cotton for market within the cotton-producing States.

My questionnaire (and the responses) relate to the 1946-47 cotton season, beginning August 1, 1946, ending July 31, 1947.

A complete response was not received, but replies were received from 135 compress-warehouse plants and 95 cotton warehouse plants which during the 1946-47 cotton season received a total of 4,597,086 bales, or 54 percent of the total cotton production of the United States for the crop year. The geographical distribution of the plants reporting and the aggregate volume of cotton handled by them assure an accurate cross section and a representative showing.

You will recall that the Administrator's definition of "area of production" of cotton provides in effect that no cotton warehouse or cotton compress-warehuse plant is within the defined "area" unless it meets two qualifications:

First, the plant must not be located in a town having a population of 2,500 or more, or within specified distances (1 to 5 miles) of the city limits of places baving populations of 2,500 or more; and

Second, at least 95 percent of all cotton receipts must come from points which do not have populations of 2,500 or more, and which must be located within 20 air-line miles from the cotton warehouse, or within 50 air-line miles from the cotton compress-warehouse plant.

Unless both of these qualifications are met, the plant is not within the defined "area of production" of cotton.

Figure 1 is a map of the United States headed "United States cotton-producing areas," prepared by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agriculture, showing by varying degrees of shading the counties of the United States in which cotton is produced. This is a picture of the actual "area of production" of cotton.

Table 1 is a mimeographed statement of cotton production in the United States. The first page shows production for each of the cotton-producing States, including the 10-year average for the crop years 1936 to 1945, the crop years 1946 and 1947, and the incomplete crop year 1948. This data is taken from the annual reports of the Bureau of the Census, revised to February 15, 1949. The succeeding pages show the same information for the individual counties of each of the cotton-producing States. This table shows in figures the same data graphically portrayed by figure 1.

Figure 2 is a map of the United States entitled in the lower left-hand corner "Location of Cotton Warehouses Including Those Equipped With Compress Machines," etc. (in the cotton-producing States).

Figure 3 is a map of the United States entitled in the lower left-hand corner "Cotton Compress Installations," etc. (in the cotton-producing States).

Figure 2 shows the locations of all cotton-warehouse plants whether or not they are equipped with compress machines, whereas figure 3 shows the locations of only those warehouse plants which are equipped with compress machines. It will be noted that the geographical distribution of warehouse plants and compress-warehouse plants, as shown by figures 2 and 3, not only follows the "area of cotton production" as shown on figure 1, but that those plants, with only one exception (Bayway, N. J.), are located in the areas of the most intense cotton production.

Table 2 is a list of the locations of compress-warehouse plants and cottonwarehouse plants located outside the actual "area of production" of cotton, as shown on figure 1. There is only one such compress-warehouse plant, which is located at Bayway Terminal, Bayway, N. J., and used only for the purpose of compressing cotton imported into the United States from foreign countries. The 80 cotton-warehouse plants listed in table 2 include only those which store cotton "for market" (as that term is used in the sec. 13 (a) (10) exemption). There are many other such warehouses owned by cotton mills, railroads, and steamship lines which are engaged in storing cotton, but not in storing cotton for market.

Table 3 shows the maximum air-line distances from which cotton was received during the 1946-47 cotton season by warehouse plants and compress-warehouse plants. You will note that many plants received cotton for distances over 500 and 1,000 miles, although such plants are located immediately in areas of intense cotton production.

You will note that only 38 of the 135 compress-warehouse plants replying to the questionnaire received all of their cotton receipts during 1946-47 from within 30 miles. It is significant that 27 of those 38 plants are located in towns of 2,500 or greater population, and, therefore, are excluded from the “area of production" of cotton (as defined by the Administrator).

You will also note from table 3 that only 45 of the 95 warehouse plants replying to the questionnaire received all of their 1946-47 cotton receipts from within 20 miles of the warehouse. Similarly, 19 of those 45 warehouse plants are located in towns of 2,500 or greater population, and are, therefore, outside the "area of production" of cotton (as defined by the Administrator).

Only 11 of the 135 compress-warehouse plants, and only 26 of the cotton-warehouse plants out of the total of 230 plants replying to the questionnaire meet both of the qualifications of the Administrator's definition of the area of production of cotton.

Table 4 shows the receipts of cotton at those 135 compress-warehouse plants and 95 warehouse plants, by air-line mileage blocks. The bales of cotton shown on this table represent 54 percent of the total United States cotton production for the 1946 crop year.

The distance which cotton moves from the gin to the warehouse or compresswarehouse plant has no relation to the location of such plant with respect to the prodnction of cotton, but depends entirely upon the desires or whims of the farmers who own the cotton. Table 4 shows that the practices of the United States cotton farmers are such that the Administrator's definition will exclude from the defined "area of production" the compress-warehouse plants and warehouse plants handling the overwhelming preponderance of the Nation's cotton (Top. This over-all picture shows that 95 percent of cotton receipts do not originate within 20 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles, or 500 miles of the cotton warehouse and compress-warehouse plants which store and compress the cotton. In fact, for the 135 compress-warehouse plants represented on table 4, only 94.4 percent of total receipts originated within 1,000 miles of the compress-warehouse plant. Table 5 is an analysis of total cotton receipts at the 135 compress-warehouse plants responding to the questionnaire. This shows that such plants received 46 percent of total United States production, and 48.7 percent of total production in the States represented by the plants reporting. It shows bales received from within 50 miles and from beyond 50 miles, and (under each of those divisions) bales received from towns of 2,500 or greater population, and bales received from towns of less than 2,500 population; also the total received from towns of 2,500 or greater population, and the total from towns of less than 2,500 population. You will note that only 49.7 percent of total receipts comply with the distance requirements of the Administrator's definition, and only 44.8 percent of total receipts comply with the population requirement of the Administrator's definition. Even more significant is the fact that only 33 percent of total receipts complied with both qualifications of the Administrator's definition. The definition requires that 95 percent of total receipts at each plant comply with both qualifications.