"WEATHER DAMAGE TO COTTON d 
if the cotton is ginned before being dried out, the resulting bale will 
have an excess of moisture and therefore will be likely to weather 
damage. This applies also to cotton that is picked immediately after 
a rain or while there is a heavy dew on it, to seed cotton piled on the 
ground as it is picked, and to unprotected seed cotton which may 
have been rained upon when in the field or on the way to the gin. 
If such cotton is ginned before being thoroughly dried, the resulting 
bale will be excessively wet and subject to weather damage. 
Leaky press cylinders are sometimes responsible for wet or water- 
packed 'bales, which are likely to become damaged unless they are 
opened and dried out, or unless the wet cotton is removed from the 
bales, 
WATER ABSORBED BY BALES 
The packing of damp lint cotton, though serious, is not so prev- 
alent a cause of weather damage as the absorption of moisture by 
the baled cotton after leaving the gin. Bales of cotton are fre- 
Fig. 1.— A typical cotton yard in a small town. Similar yards are found in hundreds of interior 
shipping points. Baled cotton is sometimes thus exposed to weather damage, fire hazard, and 
theft for weeks while awaiting sale or shipment 
quently exposed on the ground at the gin yard, on cotton yards, at 
farm houses, on river banks, awaiting shipment by river steamer, or 
on compress and freight platforms. Under such conditions rain or 
snow falls directly upon the bales and much moisture is absorbed 
from the ground, from improperly drained concrete or earth floors of 
warehouses, from damp walls, from railroad or compress platforms, 
etc. (fig. 1). 
TTet cotton is frequently loaded into a box car for shipment. If 
it remains in the car for any considerable length of time, damage 
is likely to occur. This is also true of wet cotton packed or piled in 
a warehouse or in the hold of a boat where the cotton can not dry 
properly. Leaky roofs in warehouses, compresses, and sheds are 
sources of considerable complaint. 
The capillarity of a bale of cotton in contact with moisture is 
very great. When a bale lies flat on the wet ground, moisture is 
