﻿AGRICULTURE. 
  179 
  

  

  the 
  gin 
  employed, 
  is 
  generally 
  put 
  up 
  in 
  separate 
  cotton 
  

   houses, 
  as 
  a 
  measure 
  of 
  precaution 
  to 
  guard 
  against 
  its 
  

   loss 
  in 
  the 
  event 
  of 
  the 
  burning 
  of 
  the 
  gin, 
  which 
  not 
  

   unfrequently 
  happens 
  from 
  the 
  friction 
  of 
  the 
  machinery, 
  

   carelessness, 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  act 
  of 
  the 
  incendiary. 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  majority 
  of 
  gins 
  are 
  propelled 
  by 
  horse- 
  

   power. 
  Steam, 
  however, 
  is 
  coming 
  very 
  much 
  into 
  use 
  

   on 
  the 
  large 
  river 
  plantations, 
  and 
  the 
  gin 
  houses 
  are 
  

   constructed 
  of 
  enlarged 
  dimensions 
  and 
  at 
  considerable 
  

   cost 
  ; 
  two 
  or 
  more 
  gin 
  stands 
  sometimes 
  are 
  placed 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  building. 
  

  

  In 
  Washington 
  County, 
  there 
  has 
  recently 
  been 
  

   erected 
  a 
  very 
  spacious 
  and 
  complete 
  gin 
  house, 
  con- 
  

   taining 
  four 
  eighty-saw 
  stands, 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  very 
  complete 
  

   steam-engine 
  supplies 
  the 
  power 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  seed 
  

   cotton 
  is 
  elevated, 
  ginned, 
  and 
  pressed, 
  and 
  the 
  bales 
  

   lowered. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  some 
  tediousness 
  of 
  detail, 
  all 
  the 
  

   principal 
  machinery 
  employed 
  in 
  preparing 
  the 
  cotton 
  

   crop 
  has 
  now 
  been 
  sufficiently 
  described 
  to 
  afford 
  the 
  

   uninitiated 
  a 
  reasonable 
  knowledge 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  processes 
  

   it 
  undergoes 
  in 
  fitting 
  it 
  for 
  market. 
  

  

  The 
  bales 
  are 
  now 
  weighed 
  and 
  numbered, 
  and 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  the 
  proprietor, 
  or 
  of 
  his 
  plantation, 
  or 
  both, 
  is 
  

   printed 
  or 
  marked 
  on 
  one 
  end. 
  Formerly, 
  the 
  weight 
  

   was 
  also 
  added. 
  

  

  The 
  cotton 
  is 
  then 
  hauled 
  in 
  wagons 
  or 
  carts, 
  with 
  ox 
  or 
  

   mule 
  teams, 
  chiefly 
  the 
  former, 
  to 
  the 
  nearest 
  and 
  most 
  

   convenient 
  shipping 
  points, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  consigned 
  to 
  

   the 
  agent 
  or 
  commission 
  merchant 
  of 
  the 
  planter. 
  

  

  That 
  on 
  or 
  convenient 
  to 
  the 
  Tombigbee 
  River 
  goes 
  

   to 
  Mobile; 
  the 
  residue 
  to 
  New 
  Orleans, 
  accompanied 
  by 
  

   bills 
  of 
  lading 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  boats, 
  a 
  copy 
  or 
  duplicate 
  of 
  

   which 
  is 
  retained 
  by 
  the 
  shipper. 
  

  

  