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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.