50 



COTTON CULTURE. 



material as tin that has been sanded, or felt roofing covered 

 with gravel, so as not to become slippery, which would be 

 the case with shingles or boards. The shelter beneath this 

 scaffolding affords ample and convenient room for storing 

 a hundred bales of cotton. 



When a load of cotton comes in from the field wet or 

 damp, it can be driven close alongside of this scaffold, and 

 rapidly unloaded. If the day is clear, a few hours of sun 

 will fit it for the gin, and the labor of putting it into bas- 

 kets, and carrying up the gentle slope into the loft of the 



Fig. 10. GIN-HOUSE WITH SCAFFOLD. 



gin-house is very moderate. C C represents a broad sheet 

 of painted canvass, which is rolled around a pole after the 

 manner of a street awning. In clear weather this canvass 

 is kept snugly rolled at the upper end of the scaffolding, 

 just under the threshold of the loft door. In case of a sud- 

 den shower, instead of calling hands from the field to hurry 

 the cotton under shelter, two hands can take hoM of the 

 opposite ends of the canvass pole, and in two minutes 

 have everything on the scaffold securely protected from 

 wet. An arrangement of this sort is evidently a great 

 labor saver, and is almost equal to the addition of another 

 hand to the picking force. 



These arrangements for ginning and baling cotton are 



