The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-10-20

for picking cotton from the field by ma
chinery, without injury to the GROWN!
plants or to the immature fruit. Thi
contrivance was the employment CT
picllingstem, or finger, about cigh
inches long and about an inch III diane
ter, on the surface of which were ar
raj ged small teeth or barbs, SO pro
: tected by adjacent guards as to preven
the teeth from coming in contact will
any material except tibrous substances
This principle of picking cotton by {
sense OF touch, as it were, is the essen
tial feature of the Mason Harvester
without the employment of which it i!
self-evident to any one who has paid any
attention to the subject at all that the
picking Of cotton by machinery woul6
be an imposslblllty.
Having tested by number Of expert
ments the correctness of this principle
of discrimination between fibrous ano
non-fbrous material, the inventor gradu
ally developed the stem from its first
imperfect and costly form OF construc
ton to its present beautiful and efficient
condition. The evolution of She picking
stem is in itself one of the most interest.
ing and striking features in the develop.
ment Of the Harvester as a whole. The
first stems were made of wood and were
simply small cylinders having grooves
cut in their surfaces, in which grooves
teeth were set, which were protected by
the shoulders on each side of them.
These stems we're made by hand with
great labor and included various forms
OF the same principle. Later on the in
ventor adopted metal cylinder with
eliptical perforations in its surface. In
these openings teeth were set so that the
points were disposed evenly with or
Slightly below the surface of the open
ing. Then came the style OF sten! which
is now in use, being constructed of a
metal envelope, the teeth being punched
out OF the metal itself and being sur
rounded by an opening which guards
the teeth from coming in contact with
anything except it be fbrous. Very
clear and perfect cuts of several of Ma
sons picking stems were published in
the April number of the Southern
Bivouac, together with very interesting
description Of the whole machine. The
teeth in the stems are punched by q
special machine constructed for the pur-
pose by the Pratt and Whitney Compa-
ny, of Hartford, Conn. This machine
is capable of punching four thousand
teeth minute, and cost tie Mason Cot
ton Harvester Company several thousand
dollars
Having solved the problem OF picking
out the cotton from the growing plants
without injury to plant, boil or blossom,
the inventor went to work to apply the
stems to the plants by automatic
mechanism, so that when the stems had
picked out the cotton from the bous
! they would at the proper moment re-
lease it, so that it might be deposited in
sacks provided for the purpose.
I Several different styles OF machines
have been constructed. The particular
style of machine which was exhibited at
work in the cotton field to-day is known
as ':thc Racial Stem Machine. " In a
strongly constructed frame Of hickory
and ash are placed two pairs OF cyin-
ders, from which radiatc the picking
stems above described. The machine IS
mounted on two iron wheels similar to
those used in mowers and reapcrs. The
machine straddles the row of cotton
plants, the wheels passing along the
alleys. Therefore, as the machines move
| forward through the field the cotton
plants pass backwards through the ma
chine between the two pairs of cylinders
mounted with the picking stems. The
! cylinders are mounted on vertical shafts
and rotate backwards around their shafts
at the same rate of speed as the machine
moves forward The stems, being Jour
nailed into the cylinders, revolye back
wards with them at the same rate OF
speed as the cotton plants move back
ward. Thus, when the machine starts
to operate upon row Of cotton plants, the
horses which pull it enter the alleys on
each side OF the row, the stems begin to
revolve backward with the plants, and,
while they penetrate every part of the
bushes, they do not in any way jostle or
tear the plants. Now, in addition to the
backward movement of the stems with
the plants, they have an independent,
individual rotation on their own axes
first Ill the direction Of the points Of
their teeth, so as. to catch the cotton, and
then, as they pass out of the plant, in
the reverse direction, SO as to throw the
cotton of, by centrifugal force. When
the cotton is thrown off it falls on con-
veyor, which conveys it to carrier belt,
which in turn picks up the cotton and
throws it over the back end Of the ma
chine into bags suspended in position to
receive it. When the bags are full they
are dropped and others are placed in po.
sition. The machines are so light and
the machinery moves so easily that they
can be drawn by either one or two
horses. The use Of two horses has been
found preferable, however, for the rea:
son that they pull more evenly and
steadily.
While the machinery, in order to per,
form the work successfully, must be
made with great care and exactness, yet
it is by no means complicated, nor easily
deranged. The public, no doubt, think
that the invention has been developed
very slowly. This, il a certain sense, Is
true, but in addition to the natural diff
culties which have beset the inventor al
every turn, it should be known that the
company has been again and again
harassed by piratical attempts to inter
ferc with their patents. The company
has, however, fought out every case
both in the patent office and in the
: courts, and the result has been that i
t has won every case up to the prcsen