Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1890-05-29
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE SMALL BALE.
A South Carolinlan Pays His Respects
the Texas ..Cin Man

grind" Possibly he is mistaken, both
as to grinding the axe and somebody's"
knowledge of what he is writing about,
as the sequel to the small-bale contro-
versy will in few years show. When
the small bale becomes an established
fact the ''one-horse" ginner and mi
gratory Cheap John can, If they take
pleasure in such pastime, compete
more vigorously with the ''Gin Man."
who is able to pay five hundred dollars
for cotton press, and, with the use of
that complicated machine, pay in ad-
dition thirty-hve cents per bale for
packing. According to what is implied
in his letter he thinks he is ginning
cheap, and is on the "Cheap John"
order; but might he not be mistaken
In that as we'll as he was
about that axe-grinding bust
ness? In certain county of a certain
State, across the 'Sav-va-ny," the farm
ers got their cotton ginned and packed
for eight cents per hundred Qorty cents
per bale). Therefore, when the gin
ner's compensation reaches that figure
it is pretty certain that 1t has struck
bottom.
My friend, the "Gin Man." thinks
that If the small bale is adopted his
$500 press will be useless-but were he
the mechanic that he should be in order
to control such business as his-he
could, with the help of an ordinary car
penter, with very little cost, alter his
cotton-box SO as to make small bales,
and If he plans correctly and does the
work properly, instead of paying thirty
five cents for packing the time-honored
five-hundred FOUNDER, it should cost
him less than fifteen cents for the neat,
small bale. Now, don't understand
by the above that every "Gin Man"
can make the change without in
creasing cost of packing, but what is
meant is emphatically this that
the man who can not make the change
without increasing cost of packing lis
not fit for Gin Man." though he has
been at the business forty years. The
very best thing for him to do after the
small bale is adopted is to belt his ma
chinery to one-horse country store or
undertake the practice of medicine.
Well, now, the small bale would not
be tumbled in the mud as much as the
huge five hundred FOUNDER. There are
yet, even in ''our degenerate day,
thank God, men who try to live honest
and believe firmly that whatsoever q
man soweth that shall he also reap,
and If their cotton was put up in shape
that they could handle it, rather thar
throw it in the mud and leave 1t exposed
to the rain, sun and COWS, they would
put it in their bedroom for want of bet
ter place. AS to the cost of handling
any simpleton knows that it would take
less labor to handle 100 bales
weighing $50 pounds, than 81
bales weighing 800 pounds. AS farm
ers are to sit in Judgment il
this controversy, an illustration tina
every one will understand is admissible
A farmer cleared an acre of woodland
and when the chopping was all done thu
large logs and poles lay in profusiol
over the land, couple of hands could
have piled them, had they all beef
poles, at small cost, but on account o
the large logs, dozen or more wer'
necessary, and for the very reason tina
the logs were large and heavy. A lol
rolling is the very costilest work OIL
the farm; with equal force will tn
same rule apply to cotton bales.
My friend, the Gin Man," also as
serts that it would never do to hav
"gin men" sample, grade, weigh, an,
label cotton bales, himself included
That sounds very strange coming, as |
does, from ''gin man." Who in thi
wide world is in position to be bette
qualified Co do the grading? The "Gi
Man" knows, or ought to know, what i
in the very center of ever bale h
packs; he knows exactly what
the grade of every basketful tina
is poured in his gin hopper
whereas the cotton merchant does nc
know any thing about what is in tn
middle of bale unless he "boxes" II
A few figures will, perhaps, throw
slight weight in the business on tn
side of 'gin men" grading and weigh
ing cotton. In the days when ther
was no Farmers Alliance, farmers pal
twenty cents a bale for weighing, tw
pounds per bale breakage, and on
pound was wasted sampling.
Basing calculation on the above fc
a total crop, we have the following:
Seven million bales of cotton, ,
twenty cents per bale for weighing
81, 100000.
Seven million bales OF cotton, tw
poands per bale bre akage, ten cents pr
pound, 81, 100000.
Seven million bales of cotton, OF
pound per bale sampling, ten cents pr
pound, $780, 900.
Total, So, 5OO,OO
Every farmer who has sold cotton
the past knows, or should know, VIII
the above figures mean. By makir
the "gin men" grade, weigh and lab
the cotton every cent of that So, 500, o.
annually would jingle in the pockets
those who sweat for it. Cheap Jof
''gin men" would be willing to weig
grade and label the crop for small
sum than that. Would it not be
bonanza if the ginner could get an ado
tional fifty cents for every bale
weighs? For he invariably weighs
anyhow.
AS to cheapness of bagging and ii
there is principle involved in that I'll
same as there was in holding back Il
crop last September) The farmer w
wraps his cotton with new jute baggin
in the face of the great struggle tn
the poor, down-trodden farmers are ha
= ing against their combined enemies,
certainly as guilty as his looks she
him to feel. He is not only wrongiI
his neighbors and the farmers at larg
} but he is wronging himself, his childr,
and his home.
Cover the small bale with cott'
cloth and bind it with wire, and thu