THE LOWER PINE CELT, OR SAVANNA REGION. 03 



PREPARATION OF THE CROP FOR MARKET. 



The cotton is housed or carried to' the gin as fost as picked, and the 

 object is to prepare it for market with tlie greatest (hspatch. The ginning 

 season closes about tlie Cliristmas hoUduys. A variety of saw gins — the 

 Henry, the Brown, and the Winship — are employed. Mr. Grace, of 

 Colleton, uses the needle gin. They vary in size, from forty to fifty saws, 

 require, when run by liorse-power, one mule to fifteen saws. About half 

 the gins are run by steam engines of from six to ten horse-power ; the 

 balance by horses. The average of lint turned out per hour is '217 pounds, 

 but it varies from 120 pounds per hour on a forty-saw Winship gin, run 

 by horse-power, to 400 pounds on the needle gin, run by steam. There 

 is, also, a variety of presses. The old-fashioned screw is gradually being 

 replaced by lever presses of cheap construction. Man and horse power 

 alone are used, four men and one to two horses packing from six to 

 eight bales a day. Rope has been entirely replaced by iron ties for baling, 

 and the arrow tie is generally used. Gunny bagging is used, the object 

 being to get the heaviest in the market. IMuch of it is furnished from a 

 bagging factory established in Charleston, which produces annually 

 about the amount consumed in the State. The bales range from 450 to 

 550 pounds, and the average is 500 pounds. The crop is shipped by 

 sailing vessel direct to New York from Horry county, at a cost of $1.75 

 per bale, and all charges, including insurance, commission, &c. &c., 

 amount to |3 to $3.50 per bale. Elsewhere, the crop is mostly shipped to 

 Charleston — if by river, the Santee and Pee Dee, at a cost of $1 per bale; 

 if by rail, on the Northeastern or Charleston and Savannah railway, at 

 $1.25 per bale The total cost of marketing, including freight and all 

 charges, when sent to Charleston, is reported at from $3 to $5 per bale. 



The total cost of production is stated at seven cents per pound, at six 

 cents to seven cents, at five cents to ten cents, varying with the season, 

 and at eight cents. 



From the following table, taken from the statements of planters as to 

 the cost of the labor and material expended in cultivating an acre of 

 cotton, it would appear that this averages $31.32 in the lower pine belt. 

 Such cultivation should produce a 500 pound bale, but allowing for the 

 vicissitudes of season, and taking 450 pounds of lint as a fair yield under 

 this plan of operations, putting this at ten cents at the gin house, we have 

 a net profit of $13.68 per acre, making the cost of lint cotton per pound, 

 6 1-10 Qents, or a little less than the above estimates. This profit per 

 acre i.^ not credited with the value of the 1,000 pounds of cotton seed 

 produced, amounting to about $10 more. 



