The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1890-11-01
A COTTON PICKING MACHINE.
memphis Avalanche.l

Memphis Avalanchel
From time to time attempts have
been made TO invent machine which
would pick cotton. The cotton plant
ers, almost without exception, have
discouraged efforts in this direction.
They have looked upon it as an ilnpos-
sibility aud have given no comfort 10
those who have ventured to believe
that the day might come when the
feeey staple would be harvested by
machinery.
The cotton plant varies in hight.
Tie bolls shoot out from the stalk at
every conceivable angle, from the
ground to the top of the plant. Some
of the bolls burst and are ready to
pick while others have just bloomed.
The leaves, once dry, erumble into
dust when pressed and weeds and
grass and tie-vines of every eonceiva-
bic variety surround the plant. Cot
ton, TO be marketable, must be free
from trash and the field must be pick
ed over several times in order to get
the full crop.
For these reasons ii has been re-
garded as All evidence of imbecility
for any one who had ever seen cotton
growing to suggest the possibility Of
picking it as well by machinery as by
hand, as no machine with human in-
telligence and the faculty of sight
could be invented by man.
But much the same objections have
been made to nearly every great in
veniion of the age, and yet there have
been found few with courage enough
to persevere until the problem had
been solved.
Occasional notices Of cotton picker
invented by Mr. q. N. Todd, formerly
of this city, have appeared in the Ava
lauche. A member of the Avalanche
staff has seen it tried several times in
various stages of development. After
an unsuccessful trial across the rive.
several months ago he suggested GER
tain changes In it which were adopted,
and to-day we publish the story of its
complete success.
The Avalanche has no interest in
the machine beyond that which II feels
in everything likely to be Of benefit to
the South. We are not prepared to
say that the problem has been solved
by Mr.. Todd aud bis associates. But
we give the public the facts as they
are handed us. They are that a bale
Of cotton was received in this city yes
terday which was picked by machinery
on the plantation of Mr. g. G. Glover,
twelve miles south of Memphis. Mr..
Glover and his manager and overseer
make affidavit that the machine has
the capacity of picking 800 TO 1000
pounds Of seed cotton per hour; that
it does not injure the growing plant,
and that cotton so gathered Is cleaner
than when picked by hand. Mr.. Y. N.
Estes, of the firm of Y. N. Estes Il Co.,
of this city, TO whom the bale was
shipped, says tho staple Is unlnjured
and the cotton worth one-third to one
half cents a pound more than cotton
hand-picked on the same plantation
at the same time.
1t seems almost too good to be true.
But In the meantime we may be per-
mitted to speculate as to what tho ro-
suit would be If machine could be
invented which would do all that is
claimed for the picker in question.
One hundred and forty pounds Is
good days work for an average hand.
The machine harvests 1000 pounds
an hour 1t costs about $40 bale to
pick cotton by hand, less than 20 cents
bale by machinery. Thousands of
acres of fine cotton land are left year
after year to grow up in weeds on ac-
count of the difficulties in procuring
labor, and for the same reason thous-
ands of bales are allowed to rot In the
fields.
If cotton eau be picked by machin-
cry, the South will become a paradise
before the end of the century. The
negro problem viii be solved, the me-
cessity for the Farmers Alliance dis
appear, mortgages from one end of
the country to the other will be wiped
off the books, every acre of cotton laud
will become a small gold mine and in
the South once more will the great
heart OF the nation throb-here will
be the seat cf its power aud its wealth.
All hail the cotton picker!