CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 
93 
SECTION vn. 
PICKING AUGUST TO JANUARY GOOD AND BAD PICKING QUANTITT 
PER DAY ^PICKING BY MACHINERY FINGERS THE BEST MACHINE 
STORING AWAY THE COTTON QUANTITY OF SEED COTTON TO THE ACRE. 
Picking commences in the more southern part of the 
cotton region about the middle of July, but from the lati- 
tude of Montgomery, Alabama, at various dates from the 
middle to the last of August. The field is usually picked 
over about three times, and the season generally continues 
till late in the fall ; and we have often seen hands at work 
in the field till the close of the year. 
A few days before the commencement of the operation 
the big hamper baskets are prepared, each one holding 
from Y5 to 160 pounds. These are placed at convenient 
distances in the field ; the hands are all ready, each one 
taking two rows, the haversack suspended from his neck, 
into Avhich he deposits the locks of cotton. When the 
sacks are full, the contents are emptied into the baskets, 
and the latter are moved up from point to point as con- 
venience may require ; and thus they move all day long, restr 
ing for dinner, and at night bring home their baskets filled 
with the fleece of the plant. A good hand will pick two 
hundred and fifty pounds per day ; a moderate hand one 
hundred and fifty ; an inferior hand from seventy-five to 
one hundred. The cotton is weighed usually at noon and 
at night, and deposited in covered rail pens, from which it 
is subsequently hauled to the gin house. Should the cotton 
be picked damp, it will be necessary to sun it, which is 
done on a large scaffold or platform, erected immediately 
in front of and adjoining the gin house. For this reason 
the gin hou§6 should always front to the south. 
Several machines have been invented for the purpose 
