COTTON. 



281 



<Jd:ti>n. completely obviated all former objections to the gra- 

 ^— *V > —' ting. 



These improvements were soon afterwards adopted at 

 Manchester, and at some mills in Scotland. 



It, however, occurred to the Rothsay manager, that an 

 enlargement of the cylinders would be an improvement, 

 by giving a greater extent for grating, as well as a great- 

 er space to throw the cotton by the centrifugal force. 

 He accordingly had one made at Rothsay, with cylinders 

 5 feet in diameter, which fully answered his expectations. 

 The cylinders of the machine which came from Man- 

 chester, were only, we think, about 3^ or 4 feet dia- 

 meter. 



Machines, somewhat on the same principle, have been 

 tried with the addition of fanners, the better to open the 

 cotton, and to prepare it for carding ; but we have not 

 Seen any that, upon the whole, answered so well as that 

 which we have just described. 



One of them was afterwards made for the Adelphi cot- 

 ton works, Glasgow; and is still used for the whole of the 

 cotton in that mill. It has been used for yarn as fine as 

 130 hanks per lb. ; and takes out at an average about one 

 oz of motes per lb. ff om the cotton. 



From the rapid motion of the cotton over the grating, 

 it is not only cleared of the gins, but by driving out all 

 the dust, it greatly improved the colour of the cotton, 

 which afterwards, before going to the cards, receives a 

 slight hand picking, which takes out about a quarter of 

 an ounce. The cylinders move at the rate of 242 revo- 

 lutions per minute. 



The cotton is commonly put twice through the ma- 

 chine, and it finishes about 1 40 lbs. in 7 hours ; but this 

 machine being only 22 inches wide, it is evident that, 

 were it made wider, it would do a proportionate addition- 

 al quantity of work. 



It may also be proper to mention, that, at Rothsay, 

 satisfactory experiments were made, the result of which 

 was, that it did not at all injure the staple of the cotton. 



Equal quantities of the same cotton were taken ; one 

 quantity was picked carefully by hand, the other was put 

 a great number of times through the picking machine, and 

 both were afterwards spun on the same frame into water 

 twist. The number of threads of each kind which broke 

 were carefully noted, and it was found, that the cotton 

 which had been put through the machine, was as little 

 liable to break as what had been done by hand, — a proof 

 that the staple was not at all broken. 



A gentleman from Demerary lately ordered some 

 roller gins from Glasgow, upon a construction which 

 promises to be a great improvement upon that machine, 

 and will probably allow it to work at a much greater ve- 

 locity than could hitherto been done, without injuring the 

 cotton. 



Description of the Roller Gin. 



of the rol° n The drawin g> Fi S- 1 > Plate CCXI I. represents the roller 

 lergin. ' g m * The same letters refer to the same part on all the Fi- 

 PiiTE gures. AB, CD, represents a pair of fluted rollers, com- 

 CCXU. monly made of hard wood. They receive their motion 

 V, S- *• from the foot by means of the cranks E, F, and the fly 

 wheels G, H, somewhat in the same way as the common 

 spinning wheel or foot turning lathe. 



The negroe, who drives the machine, spreads the cot- 

 ton on the cotton board. It is drawn in between the rol- 

 lers, which serve to press out the seeds, and separate 

 them from the cotton. 

 VOL. VII. part r. 



The seeds drop into the box I, and the cstton is deli- Coti»u. 

 vered behind, and falls down the inclined board KL, thus y "~~Y~"~ / 

 cleared from the gins or seeds. 



Description of the Saw Gin. 



ABCD is a roller about 9 inches diameter, which re- Description, 

 volves in the direction marked by the arrow +*. This of the saw 

 cylinder consists of a number of circular saws S, S, S, &c. P n - 

 separated from each other by pieces of wood nearly one ppvil. 

 inch and a half in thickness. pj~ 2. 



Above the cylinder is placed a kind of hopper EFGH, 

 into which the attendants throw the cotton, which falls 

 upon a grating, up through which a small part of the saws 

 projects. 



The teeth of the saws lay hold of the wool, and pul! 

 it through the grating, whilst the seeds are by that means 

 separated, anfl roll down the inclined surface of the gra- 

 ting, escaping by the spout IK. M is a cylindrical brush 

 placed below the grating, which brush revolves, and by 

 its motion serves to clear the teeth of the saws, and to 

 throw the cotton clear of the cylinder, in the state in 

 which it is ready to be packed for the home market. 



Description of the Centrifugal Cotton Picker. 



The cotton is spread on the feeding cloth AB, which Descriptiam 

 conducts it to the feeding rollers E, F. of the cec* 



The feeding rollers lay the cotton on the teeth of the c " t ^,n 

 front cylinder GH, and its centrifugal force strikes it picker, 

 against the tops I, K, and throws it upon the back cylin- fuTu 

 der MN. CCXII. 



The back cylinder moving with the same velocity, 242 l & "" 

 revolutions per minute, acts on the tops in a similar man- 

 ner, and conveys the cotton along part of the grating 

 OPQRST, until it be laid hold of again by the front cy- 

 linder, and delivered into the receptacle UXYZ below 

 the feeding frame. 



In passing over the grating with such rapidity, the dust 

 and gin are forced through the openings. From this 

 circumstance, the machine not only takes out the gin, bnt 

 greatly improves the colour of the cotton. 



Description of an Improved Batting Machine. 



A very considerable improvement has been recently Descriptors 

 made on the batting machine, with an account of which of an ,m ' 

 we shall conclude this part of the article. The idea of £ r ° 7e , 



• ■ 1 r 1 l 1 • *ll ml Ddttlrtg 



this improvement was taken from the thrashing mill. The machine, 

 cotton is fed through rollers, and struck by scutchers 

 moving at a great velocity, which operation opens the 

 cotton ; at the same time it is blown by fanners, which 

 serve further to open it, and to separate the lighter and 

 finer parts, while the gin or seeds, sand, &c. are driven 

 or fall through a harp or grating made of wire. 



The cotton, as taken from the bag, is spread on the Plate 

 feeding-cloth AB, which conveys it forward to the feed- CCXII. 

 ing rollers. CD, EF are the scutchers, which, moving at 5" 

 a great velocity in the direction expressed by the arrow, 

 strike and open the cotton as it is fed in by the rollers, 

 while a strong current of air, produced by the motion of 

 the fanners GHI, acts upon it. The gins, sand, &c. are 

 driven through the circular harp LM, and fall on the 

 angular harp NO. QR is a long harp or grating, which 

 is level, and through which any remaining lumps or gins 

 pass, while the cotton is blown forward to a small apart- 

 ment or closet, from which it is from time to time remov- 

 ed. For fine spinning it is then ready to be picked by hand 

 to take out any remaining moats, but for ordinary spin- 

 2n 



