A STORY OF COTTON 



The cotton picker picks the cotton from the boll by hand, 

 boll by boll, and places the cotton, which is termed "SEED 

 COTTON," in a long sack or bag, that is strapped to his or 

 her shoulders and is dragged behind the picker. 



A professional cotton picker, at the rate of $1.75 per cwt. 

 can, if industrious, earn a daily wage of $3.50. 



A cotton picker delivers the bag of cotton so picked to the 

 overseer of the plantation who weighs the cotton and credits 

 the picker with the number of pounds that is in evidence for 

 each day's work. 



As the "Cotton Seed" is weighed in conjunction with the cot- 

 ton lint and credited to the cotton picker, and, as the seed is 

 of very heavy weight, the number of pounds picked in one 

 day, often, becomes very great. 



We now have the cottbn picked by TWO classes of pickers : 



1st. The cotton that is picked by the small grower for his 

 OWN account. 



2nd. The cotton that is picked by hired labor for those who 

 conduct large cotton plantations. 



The man who cultivates the small cotton patch, if his cotton 

 patch produces LESS than a bale, usually takes the "SEED 

 COTTON" picked during the day, and deposits it on his front 

 porch. 



If he is in need of money, he will probably sell it as "SEED 

 COTTON" to a neighbor, or to a cotton ginner, so as to 

 QUICKLY realize CASH, on the result of his day's work. 



If the small producer aspires to raising one or several bales 

 of cotton, on his individual land, he will usually wait until 

 there is an accumulation of "SEED COTTON" of sufficient 

 quantity to load into a wagon, which wagon usually holds 

 about l,fiOO ])ounds, which, when ginned, will produce one 

 bale of lint cotton approximately 500 pounds. 



The load of "SEED COTTON" is then hauled to a LARGER 

 planter nearby, or to a PUBLIC GINNER, who, for so much 

 "per bale," will gin the load of "SEED COTTON" for the small 

 producer and will either purchase the seed that is separated 

 from the lint by ginning, and buy the bale of lint cotton out- 

 right, from the producer, or, he will return the seed to the 



