268 ECONOMIC ESSAYS IN HONOR OF JOHN BATES CLARK 
time as he may desire to sell,” and, “that the warehouse act 
facilitates the use of the warehouse receipt by holders in financing 
themselves while holding for favorable market conditions.” 
(p. 377-8.) 
“A large proportion of the cotton crop,” the Year Book states, 
“is annually marketed from September to January, inclusive. 
This heavy marketing ordinarily depresses the farm price which 
rises slowly as the marketing diminishes.” Above this state- 
ment is a diagram showing the movement of the farm price of 
cotton from 1910 to 1914. This shows that the extreme fluctua- 
tion over this period was less than two cents a pound. The lowest 
price, which occurred during November and December, the 
period of heavy marketing, was slightly more than ten cents and 
the highest price, that of July 1st, the time of light marketing, is 
slightly under twelve cents. (Ibid. p. 383). These figures speak 
for themselves. 
Many authorities have talked much about the so-called 
“autumnal dip” in prices and have assumed that it is primarily 
due to the too rapid marketing of the new crop. As a matter of 
fact when other factors do not counteract it, it is primarily due 
to the removal of the carrying charges which, of course, gradually 
attach themselves to the new crop. While this autumn depression 
may be of some significance to shrewd speculators, it is more 
than doubtful that it can be of any practical significance to the 
farmer, who, at any rate, is no wiser than the expert dealer, who 
hedges his purchases because, says the Department, “the pur- 
chase of cotton in quantity for any purpose without hedging 
would be considered such speculation that the banks would not 
finance the deal.” (Ibid., p. 387.) 
The much talked of congestion due to too rapid marketing of 
agricultural products is largely a myth in so far as the United 
States is concerned. This is prevented to a great extent by cer- 
tain factors which no man-made regulations can get around. 
First of all, in a country as large as ours there is a wide variation 
in the crop season; our wheat harvesting, for example, begins in 
the southern part of the territory as early as June, while in the 
northern sections it is in full swing in September. Furthermore, 
in regions in the same latitude winter wheat will be ready for 
harvesting earlier than the spring wheat, and in any region the 
threshing period must extend over a considerable length of time.