AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



In recent years the Americans have introduced a 

 new system of baling, the cotton being pressed into 

 flat layers, and rolled into cylindrical bales instead of 

 the time-honored angular form. Such bales are made 

 about four feet long and two feet in diameter, and 

 weigh in the neighborhood of four hundred pounds 

 each. It is claimed for this form of bales that they 

 are more easily handled, can be packed more closely, 

 and are both fireproof and waterproof. 



COTTON AT THE MILL 



There are various kinds and qualities of raw cotton, 

 dependent upon the length and nature of the individual 

 fibers themselves. Some cottons, such as the Sea 

 Island, are composed of long, delicate fibers, while 

 others have short, coarse fibers and are much less 

 valuable. The gap between the very best and the 

 poorest kinds of cotton is so great that no attempt is 

 made to strike a general uniform average in such cottons 

 by mixing; but in the intermediate varieties this mix- 

 ing process is practised universally, and is the first 

 process to which the raw cotton is submitted at the 

 mills. 



The quality of each bale of cotton as it comes to 

 the factory is determined by microscopical examina- 

 tion of a certain number of fibers which are taken from 

 different parts of the bale. This is particularly nec- 

 essary where bales come from the smaller farmers, in 

 which the products of several different pieces of land 

 may be represented in each bale. 



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