232 



COTTON CULTURE 



nected with the production of the crop. It begins late in August or 

 early in September and sometimes extends far into the winter, 

 although the bulk of the crop is usually gathered by the middle of 

 November. The cost of picking varies from 50 to 75 cents per 100 

 pounds of seed-cotton; this being equivalent to about 1% to 4% 

 cents per pound of lint. The amount of seed-cotton which one .per- 



Courtesy Planet Jr. Company 



FIG. 87. Cotton cultivation with a single-row cultivator which 



.ay be equipped with 



both sweeps and hoes. 



son can pick in a day varies usually from 100 to 500 pounds, depend- 

 ing on the skill of the laborer and the yield of the plants. 



Cotton must be gathered by hand, as no mechanical cotton-picker 

 has yet been invented which gives satisfactory practical results. 



Ginning and Baling. A complete ginning outfit consists of an 

 elevator, usually of the suction type, for removing the seed-cotton 

 from the wagon to the gin, of one or more gins for tearing the lint 

 from the seeds, and of a baling-press where the ginned lint is packed 



