The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1882-09-21
THE HANDLING OF COTTON.

r. OA00A va thfhhCe " " ~ tN'eJSe ~
, sess even a fancied monopoly of tn
worlds cotton supply. India ant
Egypt loom up as threatening rivals
}, Yet, if the American planter doe
his duty, American cotton will hol,
its own 10 the markets of the wcrld
la order to make their position Sc
cure, our planters must keep tive
ends steadily in view--the cultivs'
ton of the crop in the most skillfu
manner possible, and its preserva
ton in the best possible condition.
1t does not fall within the scope Of
our present purpose to discuss the
various means by which the cost OF
production may be cheapened we
wish merely to point out the defects
that are to be avoided 10 marketing
cotton after it has been successfully
grown.
In the first place, extreme care
should be used 10 picking the crop.
OF course, on the bottom lands,
where the yield per acre is very
large, the crop cannot be picked as
clean. 9. free from leaf-ss on
the uplands where the yield is light,
er. But, in any case, neither dirt
nor any foreign substance other than
leaf should be gathered with the lint.
A trace of large leaf lowers the
classification somewhat, but does not
hurt the sale of cotton that it other
wise desirable. On the contrary,
stapIed varieties, which command
extreme prices, are almost always
more or less leafy. Small, peppery
leaf is, however, very Objectionable
to spinners. We may mention, in
passing, that careful annual selec-
ton of seed will steadily improve
the staple and general spinning quail
tiles of cotton. We have frequently
known crops that were originally re
mar kable for staple to degenerate
into kind Of mongrel variety
what is known as "Bastard Peeler"
simply because the seed had not
been kept separate.
The proper ginning of cotton is
matter of the very first Importance.
The gin should be thoroughly exam~
amined before operations are com
menced. Especial pains should be
taken to see that the gin allows no
seed to pass through. 'Seedy' cot
ton is very difficult to sell, because
the mills have no efficient machinery
for separating the seed from the
fibre. The lint room should be
kept thoroughly clean. As rule,
the packing of cotton does not re-
ceive sufficient attention. The
different grades should be separated
as nearly as possible. In case of
mixture, bale Of cotton brings the
price of the lowest grade it contains.
The crop of 1881 81, from various
causes, contained an unusual amount
of mixed cotton. Anything like
gin-sweepings, gin,falls, etc, should
be rigidly excluded 10 packing. -
Nothing but good jute bagging
should be used. 10 this case, as in
every other, apparent cheapness is
a very different thing from real
economy. A Aimsy fax bagging,
when wet, stains and materially
damages cotton in a very short
space of time.
1t is after bis crop is raised and
baled that the producers should look |
most attentively to its proper hand
ling. AS matter Of fact, the aver
age planter takes no pains whatever
to preserve property that is the net
result of a years labor. In the
crop of 1882, there was an i'm
mense quantity of damaged cotton.
The crop had suffered from pro-
tracted drought, and, therefore,
possessed far less than the usual
proportion of vegetable oil. More
ever, the winter was uniformly warm
Cotton will stand exposure in cold
weather, but it is astonishing to see
how quickly and badly it becomes
damaged ia hot weather Much of
the damage so generally complained
of comes from allowing the bales to
lie fat on the ground. Upon such
conditions, cotton will, even it un>
der cover, absorb and hold moisture,
and the damage will eat its way 10
to the heart of the bale as surely as
a cancer. On removing the bag
ging from bales of this kind, the
entire side is found damaged to a
depth of from one to elk inches. 10
most cases, the worst damage is un>
der the first hoop. The bsgging of
ten appears to be perfectly dry, but
is more or less bleached. In former
years, it was the general custom in
American markets to pass damaged
cotton with an allowance for the
damage. That cannot be done now.
All cotton must be put in good or
der before delivery. Many planters
and couatry merchants seem to think
that, if they have a clean bill of
landing, the commission merchant
should collect from the carrier any
damage that may be discovered f;
bat such is not the case. A clean
bill of lading is good only for fresh
damaged cotton. Where the dam
age has evidently occurred long be
fore shipment it would be useless, as
it would certainly be dishonest, to
attempt to make the carrier suffer