18 



bottom of the hopper of these feeders consists of an endless movable 

 apron which carries the seed cotton forward and against the picker 

 roller or spiked drum which separates the loose locks and deposits 

 them in the gin stand. In this class of feeders all of the trash, boll 

 weevils, immature locks of cotton, etc., which does not fall through 

 the picker roller is carried with the seed cotton and falls directly into 

 the gin breast. At the present time it may be safely stated that nearly 

 all the residue which falls between the spikes of the picker roller is 

 swept from the top of the gins and deposited in the seed conveyor, 

 through which it is blown or otherwise conveyed into the seed storage 

 house, cars, or farmers' seed boxes. The spread of weevils is facili- 

 tated by the use of this class of open feeders with the distributor- 

 belt system, though the apparatus as in use at the present time has 

 considerable advantage over the hand and basket system. The prin- 

 cipal advantage is that the seed cotton is elevated by suction and beaten 

 directly against the separator screen, where a certain number of weevils 

 may be killed. That the number thus killed or removed is small has 

 been proven by many observations. An important suggestion in con- 

 nection with these open feeders is that a receptacle should be furnished 

 for catching the debris which falls from the picker roll. This trash 

 could easily be carried to any desired point by a spiral conveyor. 



The most important weakness in the belt-distributor system is found 

 in the overflow that accumulates on the floor at frequent intervals. 

 Many weevils in the seed cotton thereby have a chance to escape to 

 any part of the ginhouse. This danger is obviated altogether in the 

 system next to be described. 



It is needless to state that from the ginner's standpoint, manufac- 

 turers have obtained perfection in this system. The present objection 

 could be obviated, to some extent at least, if the overflow from the dis- 

 tributor belt were fed into a weevil-proof box or bin, whence it might 

 be re-fed directly into the gins or into cleaner feeders connected there- 

 with. There are, no doubt, mechanical difficulties to be overcome in 

 making this change, but at present it appears that they are not insur- 

 mountable. 



PNEUMATIC SYSTEM WITH CLEANER FEEDERS. 



This system has the decided advantage over the pneumatic system 

 with distributor belt that there is no overflow, and all weevils that are 

 in the seed cotton must be deposited within the feeders. 



A great deal of ingenuity has been used in the construction of the 

 feeders considered under this head, but the principles upon which 

 they operate are very similar. In Texas 33i per cent and in Louisiana 

 19i per cent of the ginneries are provided with these feeders. 



Use of the cleaner feeder. — In these machines the seed cotton is drawn 

 through tubing to the pneumatic elevator resting directly upon the 



