The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-05-11
OttoN Saving.

Ou"aAu dtkiuHon mas prepared a
statement upon cotton saving 10 be read
ats meeting Of the New England cotton
manufacturers association to-day, the
substance OF which is az follows:
since the last meeting of the assooia.
ZION very exhaustive investigation has
been made to gee whether the statement
mace by me as reason for holding the
Aeanta cotton exposition could be sus-
tained or not. l alleged as the motive
OF that exposition that tie cotton crop ot
tue United states was, on the average,
aePreclated at least one cent pound by
oad handling between the field and the
factory. One cent pound in q crop of
o,OOOooo bales 10 about $50, 900 900. On
TIE whole. the representatives Of the cot.
ton manufacturers of New England and
the machinlsta who Visited Atlanta aud
examined the subject in connection with
the exposition, Or who have had previous
knowledge in regard thereto, have moro
than sustainei this statement of lose.
Nearly every one consulted has added TO
this estimate their testimony that the
labor expended in the present bad meth.
cd OF handling is twice or thrice as
much as is needed; and that If the whole
loss to the planters of the South from
waste labor-waste in ginning, waste in
baling, waste in transportation, waste In
COMPRISING, waste in the store itself by
packing and stealage and waste at eyery
polnt-could be distinctly computed and
tabulated, it would be rearer two cents a
pound, or 100000, 900 year. It is one
talng TO steto this case, however, and
quite another thing to find remedy.
With view to possible remedy aud 10
the probable profit on business invest.
mems IN altering in some measure these
conditions, two young gentlemen, one a
graduate OF Harvard college, son of m
Alabama cotton planter, the other o
graduate Of the Institute of Technology
in the department of mechanical enei.
neering, have devoted several weeks TO
the study of the present methods of
working cotton ii Georgia and Alabama.
From their report it is becoming appa.
rent that the depreciation of the crop ia
becoming worse and that little, il any
thing, has yet been accomplished in rem.
edyiDg the defects.
GINNING ON A SMALL SCALE.
The process of ginning and baling in
these States, which are, on the whole,
TWO OF the most progressive States of the
south, is conducted by one Of three meth.
ods:
/. Ginneries run by horse or mule
power.
2. Ginneries run by steam.
3. a very few run by water power.
The latter may be disregarded. The
principal part of the work is done in one
of the two methods first named. Class
is the commonest of all, and is universal.
ly used where the farmer does the ginning
for himself or for one or two neirhbors'
The gin house is usually two story
building of rough construction. The
cotton is brought from the field in wagons
and carried to the upper story in baskets
and by means of ladder Four mules
furnish the motive power The lint cot.
ton is thrown by brush into the lint
room which is neither brushed nor swept
from one season to another nor from one
decade to another. What encouragement
can there be for careful picking when q
cotton is to be ginned in such place
The press is the old "buzzard wing" press.
1t stands about fifty feet from tie gin
house, and the lint has to be carried this
distance through wind and dirt and in all
weathers. Most of the cotton is now left
lying about wherever it may happen to
be most convenient to place it after it
has been pressed, exposed to rain and
wind and other cause of injury. More
crude devices for the manipulation of
cotton, considering the Importance of the
work to be done, could not be found in
India or in China. The stages through
which ginneries Of this class are passing
toward improvement are interesting 10
note. The first thing done away with is
the "buzzard- wing" press, for which an
improved press is being established; the
condenser attached to the gin makes the
lint room unnecessary, and when steam
power is applied the old running gear is
| thrown away.
IN the custom ginneries, operated by
steam, the presses are almost always OF
an improved kind, of which there ia O.
great variety. They are, however, mostly
operated by hand and not by ateam. The
buildings are great Improvements on the
old plantation houses. The machinery
is better and C, .fully attended to, and
the facilities fol handling the cotton are
vastly superior to those Of the old style
But it is matter Of very grave doubt
whether the cotton is turned out in any
better condition than in the primitive
way. In fact there is every reason to fear
that it is more injured in these establish
ments than in the old fashioned way.
During the ginning season these public
ginneries are always crowded with work
each man desiring to have his cotton
carried through Immediately, and to re-
turn home his chief object being to
get the greatest quantity of cotton from
the seed which he can possibly obtain
The proprietor of the gin is interested in
getting through the largest number of
bales, and he works with view to accom-.
modating his customers and taking the
largest toll rather than with any idea of
! turning out good and unipjured staple
which his customers do not appreciate.
He runs his machinery at the highest
possible speed, aud works as close Ms pos.
sible in order to mako largo yield Of
lint. II the truth were known ali
"nepped" or overginned cotton could
probably be traced to gins Of this sort.
SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT.
The more hopeful side of the question
is to be found in the fact that vast deal
Of information was spread abroad from
the Atlanta cotton exposition, and the
great margin of profit, which is to be
measured by the depreciation Of one or
two cents pound, is beginning to work
it's true results. For instance, in and
around Hogansville, Ga, about two
thirds of the farmers are now planting
selected seed and are using all the means
within their information to save it
in good condition and 70 have it prop
erly prepared. The representatives of
large plantations upon the Mississippi
river, where considerable investments Of
northern men have been made, arc max