COTTON 165 



below between its segments. They should remove the seed- 

 cotton with the right hand in one pull ; if they take two 

 pulls they will take much longer to pick the cotton.' 



The wages of course vary in different parts of the world. 

 In the West Indies they receive from ^d. to \d. for every pound 

 of seed- cotton they pick. 



GINNING. The cotton which is brought in from the planta- 

 tions is known as seed- cotton, and the first process after 



COTTON GINNING 



harvesting is to remove the seed from the lint. Before the 

 invention of machinery this was done slowly by hand ; it 

 has been calculated that it took one person two years to 

 produce one bale (500 Ib.) of cotton, whereas now one machine 

 turns out from three to fifteen bales in a day. 



Eli Whitney's Saw Gin was in vented in 1793 ; it consists 

 of a number of circular saws, which, as they revolve, tear the 

 lint from the seeds. 



There are now many other kinds of cotton gins, but the 



