2 BULLETIN 1135, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
KINDS OF BALES. 
At present there are five distinct types of bales: Flat, standard or 
railroad compressed, high density, round, and ginner's compress. 
The first three are of frequent occurrence, while the latter two have 
varied in amount of use. 
Flat hale. — Most of the cotton ginned in this country on saw gins 
is put up in the form of a rectangular package known as the flat bale. 
(PL 1, Fig. 1.) This bale has a density varying from 12 to 15 pounds 
per cubic foot. It is covered with all the different types and grades 
of burlap, has six ties or hoops, and varies in weight anywhere from 
300 to 750 pounds. 
Standard or railroad compressed bale. — The standard or railroad 
compressed bale (PL I, Fig. 2) is made by applying great pressure to 
the ordinary flat bale from which the ties have been removed and 
to which patches have been added to cover the cuts in the burlap 
where samples were drawn. Pressure is applied only to the top 
and bottom of the bale, thus allowing the cotton to spread slightly 
side wise and endwise. This spreading and the speed with which 
the bales are handled make a very irregular package. A well-organ- 
ized crew of press hands may compress as many as 120 bales per 
hour. The density of this type of bale is from 22 to 28 pounds per 
cubic foot and varies with the amount of cotton in the bale. The 
bale has usually eight ties when it leaves the compress. 
High-density bale. — After the ties have been removed and patches 
added to cover the cuts in the burlap where samples were drawn, 
the flat bale is placed in the press, the side doors are raised, and 
steam pressure is applied to the bottom or movable platen. The 
cotton is compressed between the top and bottom platens. As the 
side doors prevent any side spreading of the bale, the cotton can 
spread only endwise. The addition of the side doors makes the 
high-density bale (PL II, Fig. 1) more uniform in shape than the 
standard bale with the same pressure. High-density bales are 
compressed at a much slower rate than are the standard density 
bales because of the use of the side-door attachment, the rate being 
about 70 bales per hour for the high-density compared with 120 
bales per hour for the standard density. 
It is an easy matter to detect the high-density bale because of 
its much more uniform shape and because of the nine ties fastened 
by a high-grade buckle: The high-density attachment is used when 
cotton is to be exported or shipped by water. The density of the 
bale is from 28 to 40 pounds per cubic foot, varying with the amount 
of cotton in the bale. 
Round bale. — The round bale (PL II, Fig. 2) is made by taking the 
loose cotton from the gins and winding it in a continuous sheet 
around a core and at the same time applying pressure through other 
rolls, thus making a very compact cylindrical-shaped bale of small 
size. This bale averages about 250 pounds in weight, has no ties, 
and is usually covered with a higher grade of burlap than any other 
type of bale with the possible exception of the Egyptian bale. The 
density per cubic foot averages about 35 pounds. This bale does 
not have an extensive domestic distribution, but some foreign 
firms specify this type of bale when ordering cotton shipped from 
this country, 
