34 



One per cent is the minimum for the guaranty against an excess of 

 bags and hoops, and five per cent would not be excessive as a guaran- 

 ty against the loss on sandy and dusty cotton. 



That is to say, if all cotton, middling and above, were packed in 

 clean sacks, held by light wires, and kept free from dust, rain, and' 

 mud (tare being allowed for the bags and wires used) , the producer 

 would receive an additional price equal to the tare, and also from one 

 to three per cent more mone}' for each bale than he is now receiving ; 

 and, if all. cotton below middling, thus graded because of leaf, dust, 

 and sand, were properly treated in the gin-house, the cotton-grower 

 would net two to five per cent for each bale more than he now gets. 



The above estimates are based upon continuing the present mode 

 of ginning, the present construction of gins and presses, and the pres- 

 ent method of baling, except a substitution of wire for hoop-iron. 

 That is to say, the value of the cotton crop to the producers can be 

 increased two to five per cent without any fundamental changes, but 

 only by such care and attention to present methods as reasonable 

 economy would call for. 



But there is a very much greater saving within the reach of the 

 Southern cotton-grower, one that would add not less than ten percent 

 to the value of the crop, but not at the cost of the consumer. If that 

 part of the manufacture which must be done where the cotton is grown, 

 were done in a skilful and suitable manner, the consumers would save y 

 in the labor of converting cotton into cloth, all that the producers 

 gained in the price of cotton. 



To state this point in the most incisive way, I will venture the as- 

 sertion that the greater part of the American cotton crop is deterio- 

 rated, and its value reduced ten per cent between the time it is picked 

 in the field, and the time when it is turned out from the compress to be 

 shipped abroad or to the North. 



The smaller portion, ginned in large establishments, carefully man- 

 aged, under good discipline, is probably as well handled and as free 

 from deterioration as is consistent with the present mode of ginning 

 and baling ; but, as compared with the treatment which the cotton re- 

 ceives after it reaches the factory, the whole crop is badly treated in 

 the South, and the larger part of the crop very badly. 



In order that this point may be fully comprehended, it is necessary 

 to consider the work that is done in the factory to prepare cotton for 

 the process of spinning. 



The bale of cotton reaches the mill after having been subjected to 

 excessive compression. This compression does not apparently injure 

 the fibre ; but it makes it much more difficult to remove dirt, leaf, 

 motes, and other trash, than if the fibre had been subjected to a suit- 

 able treatment immediately after leaving the gin, when it was -in the 

 lightest or most open condition. 



In the picker-room of the cotton factory, the bale of cotton is sub- 

 jected 



First, To the action of an opener to lighten it up and overcome the 

 effect of compression. 



