40 COTTON CULTURE. 



tical,) must suggest various cheap and harmless modes of 

 relieving the tedium of this kind of labor. Fo; instance, 

 let there be refreshments at the baskets, a dish of hot 

 coifee in a cool morning, or a pail of buttermilk in a hot 

 afternoon, or a tub of sweetened water, or a basket of 

 apples, so that when the gang come out from between 

 the rows, and empty their bags, they may for a few mo- 

 ments enjoy themselves, take a little rest, and indulge in 

 a harmless joke before setting in again. They will be cer- 

 tain to more than make up the time by the swiftness with 

 which their fingers will spring from one snowy boll to an- 

 other, and swiftness of movement is, of all things, what 

 you most need in order to harvest your crop in good time 

 and in good condition. This cannot be expected where 

 the spirits droop, and life is made to seem burdensome. 

 Additional wages should also be paid to the largest 

 pickers. It may be best, in some cases, to change the 

 terms of labor in the picking time, and pay so many cents 

 for every hundred pounds, but as the picking varies greatly, 

 according to the openness of the bolls, this is not so good 

 a plan as to give a bonus of so much for every ten pounds 

 over one hundred or one hundred and fifty or two hun- 

 dred, which the picker brings in at night. Care should 

 be taken also, to abridge all the labor that is done after 

 the picking ceases at night. The health of your force re- 

 quires this, for during the principal part of the picking 

 season, the contrast between the temperature of midday 

 and after nightfall is very great, and chill and fever must 

 follow where a person is exposed to both without corres- 

 ponding change of dress. The practice on a great number 

 of the plantations in the Gulf States, under the old regime, 

 was decidedly faulty in this respect. 



The hands were expected to be in the field at early 

 dawn, and commence picking as soon as they could see. 

 In September, and much more so in October, and the fol- 

 lowing months of autumn, the dews are heavy and cold. 



