COTTON. 



and clear out seed and motes after 

 the gin drops them. With my gin- 

 stand, I liave myself ginned four bales 

 per day, and averaged over three bales 

 for a week together ; but it requires 

 constant attention. Though the la- 

 bour is light, yet it requires a good 

 hand to perform it. There is much 

 loss-work in this business ; frequent- 

 ly a part of the saws are running 

 tiirough seed, while others are almost 

 choked ; again, the roll is not full ; 

 again too full. In this way my gin- 

 ner, though an excellent servant, and 

 named after Cyrus of yore, is some- 

 times busy ginning out two bales, or 

 even less per day, while I, though 

 naturally lazy, and not disposed to 

 thwart nature in that prerogative, 

 never gin under three bales. The 

 plan is to keep the team steady, and 

 shake the cotton regularly over the 

 roll, so as to keep the roll regularly 

 full. I call the roll the cotton in the 

 gin-stand that is turned over and over 

 by the motion of the saws, from which 

 the saws pull off the article known in 

 commerce as cotton. 



" The next and last thing is baling, 

 which I do by cutting off several pie- 

 ces from a bolt of bagging, about 4 

 feet 6 to 8 inches long, the length of 

 the bale being 4 feet 6 inches ; I then 

 cut out the bed-cloth, so as to have 

 the heading of each end on it, with- 

 out wasting, which is done by split- 

 ting the first end long enough for 

 head, say 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet, 

 and cut off one piece ; then measure 

 the length of the bale, cut half across, 

 and split the same distance as their 

 end, and cut one end from the bolt 

 (leaving one half attached to the 

 bolt), so as to have both heads on the 

 same side of the cloth, thus : I then 



a 



L 



split in two one of the first-named 

 pieces, and sew on to the side from a 

 to b ; this gives the bed-cloth ; the 

 two pieces each side of the long mid- 

 dle piece, when cotton is pressed 

 down, serve as half the sides of the 

 bale ; the first-named cloth being pla- 



ced on top of the cotton before press- 

 ing, and turned down, is met by these 

 half sides, and, when sewed up, cov- 

 ers the bale; the bed-cloth is laid 

 smooth and even on the bed-block, 

 and the doors of the press fastened 

 over it, when the press is full ; one 

 of the first cloths cut, called top-cloth, 

 is stretched under follower and on 

 cotton. My press is a single-screw, 

 inside press ; the horse walking ad- 

 joining to the walk of the teams work- 

 ing the running-gear of the gin-stand. 

 The bale is pressed above them on 

 the first floor, and the cotton is put 

 in the press on the upper floor. Four 

 hands, or, rather, three hands and a 

 youngster do the pressing, two get- 

 ting in the box and tramping the cot- 

 ton down, while the youngster throws 

 in the cotton, and the fourth sews in 

 the head, and prepares a bed-cloth. 

 We press 9 to 10 bales a day, aver- 

 aging generally 425 lbs., preferring 

 about that weight to any other. 



" After running the press down, one 

 hand is employed in tying, while the 

 two others wind up the rope on a 

 windlass, to make it tight round the 

 bale, having grooves in the bed-block 

 and follower large enough for rope 

 to pass through easily ; one hand has 

 a needle three feet long, either of 

 white oak or iron uire, through the 

 eye of which is passed a piece of 

 twine, the ends tied together ; a loop 

 is formed, the rope passed through, 

 and made fast ; the needle is then 

 passed through the upper groove by 

 one hand, another pulls through the 

 opposite side ; he then returns it be- 

 low ; the hand that ties pulls through, 

 releases the twine, makes a knot in 

 the end of tlie rope, passes it over 

 the rope attached to the coil, and 

 makes a single knot ; the long end 

 then is passed over a pin in the shaft 

 to which the windlass is attached, 

 then this is turned over and over un- 

 til tight, the rope cut, and passed un- 

 der the rope on the bale, sometimes 

 tied, as if knitting a line on to a fish- 

 ing-hook, and so on until the ropes 

 are all tied. Mine are eight in num- 

 ber ; seven, however, are an abun- 

 dance." 



SOI 



