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The Georgian’s Weekly News Briefs Section
The Atlanta Georgian
AND NEWS
Being the News of Each Day of the Week in Condensed Form Specially For the Busy Man and the Farmer
ATLANTA, GA., WEEK OF JANUARY 21-27, 1911
(■
MACHINE PICKS COTTON AT LAST
on Mr. Rhoads* crop. Mr. Rhoads had
previous knowledge of cotton pick~
era and believed, like most other
planters, that a negro Is the only suc
cessful cotton picker extant. He was
so skeptical of the thing that he re
fused to allow the machine on his field
unless the Inventor would agree to
these conditions: First, that be pick
In 1820 a Louisiana cotton planter ]
whose name has been lost to fame took i
the first step toward solving the labor
problem Involved In picking the South’s
big crop of cotton. This planter had
visited a show in New Orleans and
there saw a monkey which displayed
remarkable intelligence, searching the
pockets of strangers for candy, nuts
and tobacco. The planter thought about
this a great deal.- He read up on
monkeys and eagerly visited every show
which promised to exhibit any of these
animals. He was a man of initiative
and originality and it didn't take him
very long to come to the conclusion
that he could use monkeys to advan
tage in his business of cotton growing.
Tried to Train Monkeys.
He sent to Brazil for a large consign
ment of the brightest monkeys on the
market. After many delays they ar
rived and were given comfortable quar
ters on the Louisiana plantation. The
little pickaninnies and the planter’s
children had lots of fun with them
while they* were caged up waiting for
the cotton-picking season. After the
bolls began to open the planter removed
the monkeys to the cotton field to be
gin their primary education as cotton
pickers. A* soon as they were liber
ated the monkeys heard the call of the
wild and ran with great rapidity to the
neighboring magnolia frees. As there
were no local monkey hunters the
planter was compelled to abandon his
experiment. It was said that daring
the short time that the monkeys sur
vived the Louisiana climate nothing
was so aggravating to the planter as
'their chattering In the trees,
r Early Trials.
For almost 100 years planters and
others have been trying to solve the
problem of cotton picking by the in
vention of a machine. This problem
began to grow serious soon after the
Invention of the cotton gin. which was
achieved in 1784. Before that the work
of separating the lint from the seed
was so much harder than the picking
that no one thought of the latter as be
ing hard labor. By diligent work one
could separate a pound of lint cotton
from the seed in a day. One man would
have to work more than a year to pro
duce a bale. In 1780 the United States
produced 2,000 bales of cotton, which
sold at 26 cents a pound. Nine years
later, with the cotton gin two years old,
the production amounted to 41.600 bales,
which sold at 44 cents a pound. After
that the production began going dp by
leaps and bounds. In 1810 it was 177.-
000 bales; in 1830 it was 688.880 bales,
and when Fort Sumter was fired upon
the yield was 4.668.900 bales. After the
Civil war the increase in production
again began Increasing, until it Is now
more than 10.000.000 bales annually. But
H* not kept pace with
the increase in demand, caused by the
spread of civilization, which popular,
lse* the custom of wearing shirts
The one factor which has retarded
the growth of cotton has been the fact
that all the picking must be done by
hand and the cotton pickers have not
increased a. fast as the demand for
cotton. The problem of harvesting corn
and wheat was solved before the Civil
war. Hence the production of cotton in
America has increased In 50 years only
176 per cent, while corn has increased
260 per cent, and wheat 188 per cent in
the same time.
400 Inventions. •
During the century which embraces
the roost important period of the cotton
Industry in America many inventors
havo sought to perfect a cotton har
vester. More than 400 inventors have
felt themselves so near to the solution
of the problem that they have secured
patents from the United Statos patent
office. . - - •
Many of these machines have been
taken to the cotton fields for practical
tests. Usually the machines wabbled
over-a few rows of cotton, picked a few
locks, tore off the flowers and unopened
bolls and left a trail of lint on the
ground. The trials have been so many
and the failures so unanimous that cot-
ton planters long ago lost fnlih In the
machines and refuse to allow them in
-the field.
Recently one of these cotton har-
. venter In van tots visited the. farm of
John M. Rhoads, near Vernon, Texau,
with a request to try his chiton picker
(By Carl Crow in the Technical World Magazine
the entire crop of 100 acres; second,
that if the machine failed to get the
cotton qlean from the stalk he should
put some hand pickers in the field, at
bid expense, to complete the Job; third,
that he was to guarantee the grade and
sample to be as good as the hand
picked cotton.
The success of this machine, lnvent-
1 by Angus Campbell, of Pittsburg,
and known as the Price-Campbell Cot
ton Picking Machine, is best told by Mr.
Rhoads himself. In a letter Mr.
Rhoads says: “Mr. Campbell began
actual operation in the field, and to the
surprise of a large crowd present, the
machine moved down the row of cotton,
picking at least 80 per cent of the cot
ton on the row. The field in which the
machine was operated was 1,100 yards
long, with rows 40 inches apart The
last two weeks the machine was here
I operated it myself, so I will refer
briefly to that period of operation,
have already stated that the rows in
this field were 1.100 yards long, and
during this two weeks I averaged one
round every 27 minutes. I found the
machine to be very easy to handle, ex
periencing only such troubles that arc
common with a gasoline engine, which
1 overcame very readily. I also ex
perienced some trouble with the ma
chine such as the trained operators had
during their period of operation, as
locking of fingers, clogging of the belts,
and other minor troubles that will oc
cur In the operation of any machinery,
and 1 wish to state Just here that I did
not only repair the troubled parts, but
adjusted them so they did not occur
again. During the two weeks of cotton
picking with the machine 1 picked
18,200 pounds of seed cotton, my best
day’s run being 6.400 pounds. During
this time we had one rain, which de
layed us 24 hours, and also some very
cold mornings that made It too disa
greeable to start early. I also noted
that the machine would handle the
rank cotton with Just as much ease and
pick it Just as clean as It would smaller
cotton, and the operator did not havo
to make any adjustment in passing
from low to tall cotton.
Man Can Do the Work.
“In my opinion Mr. Campbell has in
vented a machine that will mean
much to the cotton producer as the
harvester has been to the grain pro
ducer. It will mean that one man can
go Into the field and pick as much cot
ton in one day as 20 or 20 men can pick
by hand in one day, and the total op
erating expenses of the machine In one
day. ip my opinion, based on my actual
experiences, will not exceed 810 a day.
and the cost of picking the same
amount of cotton by hand, figuring on
one-half bale to the acre, would be not
less than 248. I believe it would not
take a Solomon to see that this differ
ence would mean a net profit of 238 on
one day’s operation, to say nothing of
the trouble that the producer is com
pelled to go to to secure these hand
pickers and to provide a place for them
to live, and many other annoyances
that are familiar to the man with
large cotton acreage."
Farmers Inspect Picker.
During the cotton picking season of
1810 the Price-Campbell Machine was
in almost continual operation In Texas,
moving from one farm to another, much
as the self-binders or tho threshing
machines move In the Northern slates.
During the Texas state fair, which is
held in Dallas during each October, the
machine gave daily demonstrations
which were visited by thousands of
skeptical farmers, many of them suf
fering from “misery in tho back" be
cause of many seasons of cotton pick
ing hy hand. A more skeptical doubt,
tag Jury was never before empaneled
than this dhe, yet their verdict was
unanimous in favor of the machine.
Farmers from a hundred cotton plant
ing neighborhoods visited the machine
every day and went back home to tell
their neighbors that at last the impoe-
slb e had been accomplished with the
Invention of a machine which would
pick cotton.
The machine Itself Is built oa a
chassis of about the dimensions of a
60-horsepowcr automobile. The wheels
are steel traction and the axles aro
high enough to pass over the cotton
stalks without breaking them. - In the
places where the dashboard of an auto
mobile would be are the Interlocking
steel fingers which pluck the cotton
from the opened bolls and a conveyor
which carries the locks to two bins or
sacks suspended from the rear of the
machine. As fast as filled these sacks
are detached and replaced. In front
sits the one operator with a steering
wheel and throttle in easy access. The
engine is mounted Just to the rear of
the driver and Is connected by means
of a chain drive.
Many Obstacles Found.
Many obstacles are found to the
successful operation of a cotton picking
machine. In the first place, cotton does
not ripen ail at once, as Is the case with
wheat and com ana other crops. In
July the bolls which are nearest tho
ground and therefore the farthest ad
vanced may be ready for the pickers.
On top of the same plant will be many
flowers and green bolls. It Is Impor
tant that the picker take the locks from
the ripened bolls without harming tho
flowers, the green bolls or tho plant It
self. Again the cotton plant, tho sown
In parallel rows, like corn, has a great
lateral growth and ripened bolls may
be hidden by the more rapid growth of
branches of the plant above. Tho ma
chine must not only pick all that is In
sight, but it must do more; its steel
fingers must creep beneath the branches
and pick out that which Is hidden. This
the Price-Campbell machine does. Just
how Its flexible steel fingers acquire this
almost human touch I do not under
stand. tho I have seen. I believe that
if Angus Campbell had Invented the
cotton picker 200 years ago ho would
have been hanged as a disciple of tho
devil and his machine burned in front
of the nearest cathedral.
Description of Picker.
As I understand it, the Price-Camp
bell cotton picker does not embody any
strikingly novel features. Indeed, ev
ery mechanical discovery had bebn util
ised by former inventors. Different
ones sought to solve the problem by
using magnetism, electricity and pneu
matics. One of the latter class of In
ventors preceded the vacuum cleaner
by patenting a machine designed on
the same principle. The contraption
provided two seats in the rear for boys
who aimed the point of the business end
of the suction pipes at the opened bolls,
securing their swift transportation to
the wheezing Interior of the machine.
The machine was a success, but so
much depended upon the agility of the
lads who handled the suction pipes that
It never proved any faster than the or
dinary negro picker. Tho Price-Camp
bell machine* seems to be a success be
cause of the fact that the Inventor has
worked carefully over every detail of
the construction for eleven years. Of
course, the machine ts not perfect, but
. negroes, the other by the machine.
The bales were ginned separately and
then sent to the Wamsutta mills, at
New Bedford, Mass., for a thorough
tost. Accurate account was kept of the
waste in all the processes at the mill
and It was found that the percentage
was In favor of the machine-picked cot
ton, Its percentage being .0792. while
the hand-picked bale showed a loss of
.0930 per cent Further tests showed
that the breaking strength of the ma
chine-picked cotton is greater. The
waste In the cotton field has been men
tioned as five to ten per cent, which is
usually no larger than when the aver
age shiftless negro is employed to do
the work. Being a Iraction machine,
the picker can not operate on soft
ground, but rains will retard hand pick
ing as well. Neither can it operate on
hilly country for the same reason that
early automobiles could not climb hills.
Doubtless much of the heavy weight Its
36-horsepower engine now carries win
later be eliminated. Just as the weights
of the other machines have grown
gradually less. You could scarcely lift
the first typewriter from the floor, but
you can buy a good one now with a
weight of less than six pounds. The
gulleys which now would Impede the
passage of the machine thru the aver
age cotton patch may be filled up or
replaced with tiling, Just as has been
done with wheat fields. There are not
enough Mils In the cotton producing
ecus try to constitute any serious obsta
cle to the general use of the machine.
When Campbell started in to Invent
a cotton picker he didn’t stop with that
one task accomplished. While studying
the growth of the cotton plant, with a
view to Inventing a picker, he saw that
much of the other work done in connec
tion with the crop could be performed
with a machine. To make a machine
pick cotton was the most difficult, so
after he completed it to Its present
stage of perfection he made It a handy
man of all work around the farm. It
will break up the ground with a disc
attachment, then plant It, chop it out
after the seeds have come up, pick it
when it matures, chop up tho stalks
when the crop has been picked, and
then when the season is over it can bo
put In tho barn and with a belt around
its fly wheel. Its 30 horsepower can bo
used to run anything from a power
churn to & cotton gin.
In many ways the Invention of a cot
ton picker is of more economic value
than the invention Of a Wheat har
vester. Each year more than 30,000.000
acres arc planted in cotton. An army
of 10,000 men with modem- agricul
tural implements could harvest this
area of wheat in six weeks. To pick
that number of acres of cotton moans
a much more difficult task. It would
require the labor of 10,000 men three
years. The serious part of the matler
Is that this work Is not dono by men.
It is dope by the women and children of
the South. In the South Atlantic and
South central states 827,000 boys and
girls between the ages of ten and fif
teen. work In the Acids. Of this num
ber more than 200,000 are girls. All to
this the women who arc absent from
the cotton patch only when mother
hood compels them to remain at home,
and we have a million slaving for cot
ton—a million on whom tho hope of
the coming generation rests. Is it any
wonder that a half million in Alabama
can not read or write? Is It any won
der that the average school term In
Arkansas Is less than three months?
No Antagonism to Invention.
When tho wheat harvester was In
vented many farm hands who saw that
the machine would remove their names
from the farmers’ pay rolls organized
little parties and burned every machine
they could lay their hands on. No such
antagonism may be expected toward
the cotton picker. Despite the fact that
cotton demands more hard, cruel labor
than any other crop, it docs not support
a large class of laborers. When the
cotton picking season begins the plant
er’s wife and children go out Into tho
field before daybreak. With breakfast
often as early as 4 o’clock, they are In
tho fields when the eastern sky begins
to turn pink, and there they remain
until It Is so dark that It Is no longer
possible to tell the open boljs from tho
green ones.
There Is no chanee to shirk. At
one corner of the field is the scales.
Each picker, hobbling along on bruised
knees or bending over at a back
breaking angle, drops locks Into a
long sack which he drags after
him with its Increasing weight.
When full, it is carried to the scales
and weighed. Each picker’s work
shows for Itself. Of course, this homo
guard is supplemented by negro labor.
During every cotton season cities as
large as Fort Worth or Dallas are prac
tically deserted by negro bootlacks and
washerwomen. All the floating and vag
rant labor of the South is called upon
during tho picking season. But the
planter does not depend on this. Tho
young couple plant only tho few acres
that the two can care for. As the fam
ily increases, so does the cotton patch,
in Just the proportion that the young
hands aro able to aid In its care. To
remain childless Is to remain poor.
Plantation Owner Is Independent. -
There Is another effect the invention
of the cotton picking machine may
have. It may rid the South of Its cot
ton slavery, and on the other hand it
may cause the building up of big South
ern estates. Tho one condition that has
prevented & more rapid development of
t!.«- big estates is to bo found in tin in
ability to securo cotton pickers during
the season. You might buy 10,000 acres
of land In tho South and plant it all in
cotton. Yon would bo reasonably cer
tain of securing a good crop, but there
is where your certainty would end. To
pick this big crop before battered down
Into the mud by heavy fall rains, you
would need a small army of negroes,
and any one who has ever tried to em
ploy* a large number of negro • cotton
pickers will tell you that it is a task of
doubtful issue. Even If you muster your
army. & new recruiting campaign will
be necessary after each Saturday pay
day.
With a perfected cotton picker, tho
big plantation owner will be more inde
pendent than the wheat or corn grower.