PRESSING AND BALING 47 



means of a steel plate. The second kind of roller gin 

 is that known as the " Macarthy " gin, and is now 

 much more largely used than that just described, In 

 this case the seed-cotton is brought into contact with 

 a revolving roller covered with rough leather (usually 

 walrus- or buffalo-hide). The lint clings to the 

 leather and is thus torn away from the seed ; it is 

 then drawn between a steel plate, known as the 

 " doctor knife " (fixed tangentially to the roller and 

 very close to it), and a blade called the " beater," 

 which moves up and down immediately behind the 

 fixed plate and parallel to it. Whilst the fibre is 

 held by the roller, the beater detaches the seed from 

 it. The lint is carried over by the roller and delivered 

 at the other side of the machine, whilst the seeds drop 

 through a grid into a box placed beneath it. 



Pressing and Baling. After the cotton has been 

 ginned, it is collected and made into bales. Great 

 pressure is usually applied in order to reduce the 

 bulk as much as possible before shipment. In olden 

 times, the baling was effected by very simple means, 

 but elaborate machinery is now employed for the 

 purpose. 



The bales of different countries vary considerably 

 in appearance, shape, and weight, and can thus be 

 readily distinguished rom one another. The follow- 

 ing are the approximate weights of the principal bales 

 which appear in the English market : United States, 

 500 Ib. ; Egyptian, 700 Ib. ; Indian, 400 Ib. ; Brazilian, 

 from 200 Ib. to 260 Ib. ; Peruvian, between 170 and 

 200 Ib. The bales are usually more or less rectangular 

 in shape. The best made bales are those from India 

 and Egypt, whilst the American bales are badly 

 packed and usually reach their destination in a some- 

 what dilapidated state. The coverings 6f the 

 American bales are made of very cheap material and 

 are quite inadequate to protect the fibre. It has 

 been estimated that the amount of loss in transit 

 from the ginnery to the cotton-mill must in many 

 cases exceed 3 per cent, of the original weight of the 

 bale. Complaints have been made repeatedly by 

 spinners with regard to the dirty state in which the 



