50 COTTON 



carries the cotton upward until it is deflected off 

 into a receptacle, by a revolving brush. The ma- 

 chine carries four operators and a driver, for each 

 of whom a comfortable seat is prepared. There 

 is no necessity for any bending or stooping on the 

 part of the operator, and all he is required to do 

 is to direct the well-balanced and nicely-adjusted 

 arms of the machine. It is claimed by the inventor 

 that when finally perfected each arm should gather 

 up one boll per second, at a very low rate of speed, 

 making 480 bolls per minute for the four opera- 

 tions, or 28,800 per hour. As the bolls early in the 

 season average 60 to 80 in the pound, one machine 

 could pick from 3,600 to 4,800 pounds per day of 

 ten hours. One of these machines with four boys 

 and a driver could do the work of twenty average 

 pickers." 



Some who have seen the Lowry Picker ask: 

 "And what shall it profit the cotton farmer to have 

 this machine, since even with it the human hand, 

 or what is virtually an extension of the human 

 hand, must be directed to each individual boll?" 

 The advantage lies in the fact that the man who 

 operates the mechanical hand at least saves (or 

 should save) the time required in bending over 

 each new stalk and the time required in drawing 

 his hand back and forth in putting each separate 

 handful into his picking-sack and this is more 

 than half the time required in picking. 



Others who think Mr. Lowry has invented a 

 practical device for picking the cotton say that he 

 has hampered its success by putting it in connec- 

 tion with a motive power which is not satisfactory: 

 in other words, he is sacrificing a good invention 



