COTTON. 



109 



American cotton bales that are sent over with bad and faulty 

 coverings are especially liable to absorb moisture in a damp atmosphere. 

 The fire risk of these bales is increased as a result of this unfair and 

 careless system of baling. If we compare the system of packing East 

 Indian and Egyptian cotton with that of American, it can readily be 

 seen that the packers in America have something to learn in placing the 

 coverings on cotton bales. Complaints have, from time to time, been 

 made by spinners but all to no purpose, and the impression has gained 

 ground that either the Americans could not, or would not, study the 

 interests of the spinners, who are their customers, and that the Americans 



Fig. 70. Compressed cotton. 



preferred to send out badly packed bales, and that the loss to the 

 spinners was to some extent their gain. Latterly, attempts have been 

 made by the Americans themselves to introduce a better system 

 altogether, a fact which does them the utmost credit. It consists in 

 packing the cotton in cylindrical bales, a custom introduced by Mr. 

 Edward Atkinson, of Boston, U.S.A. 



Fig. 70 represents a portion of the compressed layers of cotton taken 

 from a cylindrical bale. For this specimen I am indebted to the late 

 Mr. John Butterworth, F.E.M.S., of Shaw, near Oldham, the well- 

 known specialist upon cotton bales and fibres. 



I photographed the example shown in fig. 70, which is a fair type of 



