CHAPTER XXIII. 



HARVEST TIME IN THE COTTON FIELD 



Every crop is interesting at harvest time; but 

 especially is this true of cotton. Even the poorly 

 tended field with its short stalks and open ground 

 becomes spectacular in appearance as the bolls 

 burst and reveal their fleecy treasures, soft, abun- 

 dant and snowy white. 



To this scene add hosts of workers of all shades 

 of color, and of every size from the toddling babe 

 to the tottering grandfather, and here and there 

 spot the picture with mounds of white made of the 

 picked cotton then indeed you have a scene that 

 will never leave the mind, and will hold the gaze 

 until it fades away in the distance. Such is pick- 

 ing time in the cotton field: such is the reward 

 of a season's endeavor. 



HOW PICKING IS DONE 



The only equipment necessary for cotton picking 

 is a common sack suspended from the shoulder and 

 open at the mouth into which the cotton is placed 

 as it is pulled from the open bolls. It is very light 

 work more so than harvesting any other sort 

 of crop. Often the best pickers in the cotton field 

 are women and young children. The arduous part 

 of the picking operation is the stooping necessary 



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