Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-08-24

columns Of teasles worked up and down
| in three seconds by means OF pn!leys
and heights, and couple OF ropes IN
the hands Of two men at each side oil
the machine: the upward motion OF the
columns of teasles picks out the cotton;
the downward motion causes the sta
tionary teasles to strip off the cotton,
leaving it on top of the frame, whence
it is swept off into bags or boxes pre-
pared for its reception at each end OF
| the machine, and capable of holding
several hundred pounds.
This of course, is an imperfect de-
scription of this wonderful invention,
but it will serve TO give your planting
readers a general idea of its construc-
ton and mode Of operation. A per-
fectly clear and complete picture Of Il,
in the columns of the LEDGER, could only
be conveyed by the use of diagrams and
drawings To be fully appreciated, in
fact, it must be seen and tested. And
when you do see it, you will be struck
with the idea at once that the teasle-
which has been cultivated in various
parts of Europe and Asia for thousands
of years as an article of commerce, for
the use of clothiers-was intended by
Nature herself for this very purpose, OF
picking cotton, as well as OF dressing
cloth. A wonderful little burr, 1t is, too.
You may take and rub one of them back
and forth with all your strength of hand
upon the hardest wood, for five minutes
or longer, without impairing its efficiency
or bunting its fine needle points. Again,
you may soak it in water for months, or
boil it, with the same result. Finally,
any farmer can grow them; a half acre
planted with the teasle-seed contained IN
these little burrs viii produce enough
teasles to supply his Cotton-Picker
for a half dozen years or longer.
Messrs. Shirley, Apperly Il Pearces
4" field cotton picker" is success-a
great success-because, first, with 1t two
men can pick as much cotton in day
as fifty men can in the old way; and,
secondly, because every farmer who
plants a hundred, OF even fifty acres of
cotton annually, will save twice or
thrice the cost of a machine, in time
and labor alone, not to speak of the i'm
mense gain in enhanced prices aecruing
from his ability with it TO gather his
whole crop before it has been damaged
by rains and frost, and by falling on the
ground. Besides, it is estimated and
generally conceded, that, either size of
these machines, the larger and more
costly, as well as the smaller and cheaper
)ne. will reimburse its original cost in &C.
tual saving of labor and money every
.en days that it is used. Nor should it
De overlooked that this teasle cotton
picker will not only pick out all, or
nearly ALL the cotton on the stalks, but
he columns of teasles that do the work
ire SO arranged that they will pick up
III, or nearly all, the cotton that may
lave fallen upon the ground, and clean
t besides.
Unquestionably, this timely invention,
coming as it does, so OPPORTUNITY to fill
Ip the disastrous gap made in our sys-
EN- of labor by the results of the war, is
'ound to work a mighty and benehoent
evolution in the cotton production of
he South. Heretofore, one man, on
,ood land, could cultivate as much cot ;
on in four or five months as two or
hree men could pick out during the rest ,
# the year. With the advent of this ;
machine, all this viii be changed. Here
fter, two men can easily pick out as
much in two or three months as fifty or i
ven one hundred men can produce dur t
ng the cotton growing season. And, !
therefore, it is that we may justly claim /
hat Shirley, Apperly 4 Pearce's teasle j
otton-picker viii bring about, for the t
xclusive benefit of Southern landown-
RS, revolution in the dominions Of
nappy king cotton" second only to that
Irought by the fortunate and now world
Whitney when he stumbled
pom the "saw-teeth cotton gin"
i p p ,