452 FIELD CROPS 



damp when ginned. Sea Island cotton is ginned in what is 

 known as the roller gin, as the fiber is seriously damaged by 

 the ordinary type of saw gin. 



615. The Cotton Bale. The standard square bale of 

 cotton weighs about 500 pounds gross, with a net weight of 

 478 pounds of lint. The difference of 22 pounds consists of 

 "bagging and ties," that is, the bagging with which the bale 

 is wrapped and the iron bands by which it is held in shape. 

 The general run of cotton bales averages a httle more than 

 500 pounds in weight. A bale of cotton is a compact mass 

 of lint cotton about 54 inches long, 44 inches wide, and 24 

 inches thick. Round bales averaging 250 pounds in weight 

 are sometimes made. These are more compact than the 

 square bale and are made with less injury to the fiber, as the 

 sheet of lint is wound directly upon a cyhnder as it comes from 

 the gin. Before cotton is shipped any considerable distance, 

 the square bale is compressed to reduce the bulk, the 42 to 46 

 inches of width being reduced to 20 inches. The other 

 dimensions are not changed. In this form, the cotton of the 

 South is shipped to the markets of the world. 



MARKETING AND RETURNS 



616. Marketing. Cotton is usually sold to local buyers 

 or to representatives of large consumers of the lint. The 

 sales are usually for cash, and a large part of the crop is sold 

 as soon as it is ginned. It is then stored in warehouses 

 awaiting shipment, is shipped at once to the mills, or, if pur- 

 chased for export, is forwarded to one of the coast cities. 

 Galveston, New Orleans, and Savannah are among the prin- 

 cipal export cities. The grower may, however, store his 

 cotton in a warehouse to be sold at some future time or may 

 return it to his farm, if he has the proper conveniences for 

 storage. The seed is either returned to him from the gin- 

 nery or purchased by the ginner, who in turn sells it to an 

 agent of the oil mill. 



