h" or
"near month," "futures"), January-February, February-March, March-April,
April-May, May-June, June-July, July-August, and perhaps two or three
more. Each group, it will be observed, except "current futures,"
culminates in two defined months. The rule is that on the first of the
two months the seller of "futures" may, and before the last day of the
second month must, deliver cotton against them, or, what comes to the
same thing, buy back the "futures" on the basis of the price of "spot"
cotton of middling grade. Various grades of cotton are tenderable
against "futures": if this were not so "futures" would be in danger of
defeating their object, because the price of the grade upon which they
were founded would probably at times be thrown widely out of relation to
the general level of prices in the cotton market. The lowest grade
tenderable used to be "low middling," but since October 1901 "good
ordinary" has also been accepted. Arbitrators report on deliveries and
award allowances on those of grades above "middling" and deductions of
price from those below. A sample is taken from each bale and the "points
on or off" are fixed for each bale separately. If either party is
dissatisfied with the award, he may appeal to an appeals committee on
paying L3:3:0: which is refunded to him by the other party if the appeal
be upheld. The detailed arrangements described above are those of the
Liverpool market. The great bulk of "futures," however, are bought back
and not delivered against.

Quotations.

Beneath are the official Liverpool quotations of "futures," as they
appeared on the morning of the 19th of April 1906:--

_American Deliveries, any port, basis of middling, good ordinary clause
(the fractions are given in 100ths of a penny)._

+------------+-----------+---------------------------+---------+
| |Yesterday's| To-day's Early Sales. | Values |
| | Close. | | 12.15. |
+------------+-----------+---------------------------+---------+
| April | 6.05 | | 6.03 |
| April-May | 6.05 | | 6.03 |
| May-June | 6.05 | 6.06, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3 | 6.03 |
| June-July | 6.05 | 6.05, 2,* 3 | 6.03 |
| July-August| 6.04 | 6.05, 4, 3, 2 | 6.03 |
| Aug.-Sept. | 5.98 | 5.99, 8, 6 | 5.97 |
| Sept.-Oct. | 5.