478 FIELD CROPS 



seed and is packed into bales. The type of gin which is in 

 common use, except in the Sea Island district, is the saw gin, 

 which was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, and has since 

 been improved by many other inventors. The seed cotton 

 is fed into a hopper at the bottom of which are many revolv- 

 ing saws mounted on a cylinder. These saws tear the lint 

 from the seed, the seed dropping down into a chute and the 

 lint being removed from the saws by sets of brushes on 

 another revolving cylinder. The lint is then pressed against 

 a board by means of an air blast and passes from the gin in 

 a continuous sheet. It is taken automatically to the press, 

 where it is packed by means of hydraulic or steam power 

 into a compact bale. 



The seed cotton is usually drawn from the wagon to the 

 gins by suction and automatically divided among the several 

 machines with which each ginnery is provided. From these, 

 the lint cotton is all gathered into one bale, while the seed is 

 carried to an elevator, so that in a very few minutes a wagon 

 load of seed cotton can be ginned, the lint cotton baled and 

 returned to the farmer's wagon, and the seed delivered to 

 him from the elevator. During this process, practically no 

 hand work is necessary. Cotton may be seriously damaged 

 if the gin is run at too high a rate of speed or if the cotton is 

 damp when ginned. Sea Island cotton is ginned in what is 

 known as the roller gin, as the fiber is seriously damaged by 

 the ordinary type of saw gin. 



625. The Cotton Bale. The standard square bale of 

 cotton weighs about 500 pounds gross, with a net weight of 

 478 pounds of lint. The difference of 22 pounds consists of 

 " bagging and ties," i. e., the bagging with which the bale is 

 wrapped and the iron bands by which it is held in shape. 

 The general run of cotton bales averages a little more than 

 500 pounds in weight. A bale of cotton is a compact mass 



