CHAPTER XXIII. 
HARVEST TIME IN THE COTTON FIELD 
Every crop is interesting at harvest time; but 
especially is this true of cotton. Even the poorly 
tended field with its short stalks and open ground 
becomes spectacular in appearance as the bolls 
burst and reveal their fleecy treasures, soft, abun- 
dant and snowy white. 
To this scene add hosts of workers of all shades 
of color, and of every size from the toddling babe 
to the tottering grandfather, and here and there 
spot the picture with mounds of white made of the 
picked cotton — then indeed you have a scene that 
will never leave the mind, and will hold the gaze 
until it fades away in the distance. Such is pick- 
ing time in the cotton field: such is the reward 
of a season's endeavor. 
HOW PICKING IS DONE 
The only equipment necessary for cotton picking 
is a common sack suspended from the shoulder and 
open at the mouth into which the cotton is placed 
as it is pulled from the open bolls. It is very light 
work — more so than harvesting any other sort 
of crop. Often the best pickers in the cotton field 
are women and young children. The arduous part 
of the picking operation is the stooping necessary 
(194) 
