DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 185 



substances, such as dust, fragments of leaves, etc. Some of the seed, especially the 

 immature seed known as motes, pass through with the lint. The fibers may be 

 strained, weakened, or even broken, or, what is fully as bad, crimped and knotted 

 (termed neps or naps) by improper force used in their removal. From all these 

 causes a large amount of waste is always found in ginned cotton. {Harry Hammond.) 



In a paper entitled "Treatise upon the cotton fiber and its improvements/' sub- 

 mitted at a meeting of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association at Atlanta-, 

 Ga., October, 1895, Edward Atkinson, referring to the use of the saw gin, says: "We 

 take three-quarters of the life out of our cotton by our murderous method of treating 

 it. We nearly wear it out before we begin to weave it." And asks, " Would it not 

 be better to nip these libers between two elastic rolls, to draw them away from the 

 seed without upsetting, tangling, and cutting them?" He argues at length in favor 

 of the more extended cultivation of long-staple varieties, and of more earnest efforts 

 to improve the roller gin, using the latter in connection with the recently introduced 

 cylinder press. 



Baling. — The standard size of cotton bale in this country is 54 by 27 inches, 

 and contains about 500 pounds, inclusive of bagging and ties, or about 475 to 480 

 pounds of lint. Formerly weighing 300 pounds, the American bale has grown to 500 

 pounds. The Egyptian bale averaged 245 pounds in 1855 and 714 in 1892. In Peru, 

 Brazil, and Persia the bales run from 175 to 220 pounds, and in Asiatic Russia from 

 250 to 325 pounds. India averages about 400 pounds, and the density of the bale is 

 so much greater than the American that it weighs 39 pounds to the cubic foot, while 

 compressed cotton in American bales is less than 35 pounds. 



The bales are wrapped in jute bagging, with iron bands, the mere covering of the 

 cotton adding 20 to 24 pounds to the weight of the bale. Among the other forms of 

 baling, the Dedrich perpetual press, formerly used to some extent, puts up the cotton 

 in bales of 100 pounds, and of a density nearly equal to that obtained by the com- 

 presses. The Bessonette cylindrical cotton bale is turned out by a self-feeding press, 

 which receives the bat of lint as it comes from the condenser upon a spool between 

 two heavy rollers. The friction of the rollers rotates the spool and winds the bat 

 upon it so tightly as to press out nearly all the air and to form the roll into a pack- 

 age with a density of 35 pounds to the cubic foot and of uniform size and shape 

 throughout. The pressure employed is only 25,000 pounds to the bale, against 

 5,000,000 pounds by the compress. The Bessonette cylindrical bale is of uniform 

 length, with a diameter of 14 inches to 16 inches. The bales are covered with cotton 

 cloth. The ends are capped with the same material, held in place by a small hoop 

 of wire. No ties are used, nor are they necessary, for the bale retains its shape with- 

 out them. It is claimed that the saving by the use of this bale in the expense of 

 compressing, handling, insurance, transportation, etc., amounts to $4.25 per bale, and 

 with the air completely pressed out, it is practically fireproof. See The Cotton 

 Plant, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1896. 



Cotton manufacture in the United States. — The manufacture of cotton goods 

 in the United States, exclusive of hosiery, knit goods, mixed textiles, cordage and 

 twine, required in 1890 2,216,000 bales of cotton, used in 905 establishments, having 

 221,585 employees. The value of materials used was $154,912,979, and of products 

 $267,981,724. The number of spindles was 14,550,323, an increase of 3,896,888 in ten 

 years; nearly three-fourths in the New England States, and over one-tenth in the 

 Southern, where the increase has of late been very rapid. 



The percentages of cost of manufacture were: 43.81 for cotton, 14 for other mate- 

 rials, 6.24 lor miscellaneous expense, 25.93 for labor, and 10.02 for depreciation and 

 profit. The finer grades are mostly made in the New England States, where the 

 quantity of cotton used per spindle, indicating degree of fineness, was 65.95 pounds, 

 78.46 in the Middle, 147.55 in the Western, and 161.41 in the Southern States. The 

 development of all branches of cotton manufacture was active until arrested by 

 recent depression, and equal progress may be expected in the future. 



