The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-11-05
nlDm 49, y
Edited by John G. Edgar DuYsi 10 whom all
!. nrnunica,ions should be addressed
ANOTHER COTTON HARVEST.

or me COTTON season yhhJ cOJlOh
a,a<er has been perfected and has
reformed prodigies in some belated
op, that detied the eGor,, oi human
hands. AS the promises held out
have never been realized, cotton
planters have almost despaired of
ever getting relief at harvest time
from machinery. But the inventor
and manufacturer are still TO the
front; aud one of the most interesting
mechanical exhibits at the Dallas fair,
was the Cunningham cotton har-
yester.
Texas Farm and Ranch has consist
entity and persstently derided the
idea of picking cotton by machinery,
but thinks this harvester may, under
favorable conditions, prove valuable
agricultural machine; and thus
describes it and its work:
Unlike some Of its namesakes, its
object is to harvest cotton, rather than
suckers; and unlike them it was not
afraid to work in daylight. So far as
we know this machine has not found
it necessary to go away to some
secluded agricultural neck, and after
wards return with bale Of cotton
"picked by the machine" in the
presence of a subscribing witness
whom nobody ever heard of before.
The Cunningham cotton harvester
proposes to gather the cotton by strip
ping the stalks of open and unopen
bolls, leaves and such limbs and other
crash" as may be broken off in the
operation, and afterwards to separate
the cotton from the trash in distinct
machine made for the purpose.
y Texas Farm and Ranch repre-
sentative witnessed the operation Of
both machines, and will, as is its
custom on all occasions, state the facts
The harvester is drawn by two mules,
and picks one row at a time. The
cotton in which it was operated was
JEFF Welborn's "pet" planted for the
purpose. Before the experiment be-
gan the crop was prepared for the ma
chine, by picking the lower bolls, and,
as the empty bulls indicated, other
bolls which were likely to fall out.
Dir. Cunningham states that this was
done for the purpose of having the
ground as clean as possible of fallen
cotton. At the time of these expert
ments nearly all the bolls were open
snd the stalks were nearly free from
leaves. This was gone over by the
the machine in moderate walk, the
machine knocking out one or two per
cent of cotton. The stalks were
stripped as proposed.
The rows were about 225 yards long.
The writer counted the open bolls left
on two rows by the machine. In one
of them were nineteen, in the other
twenty-three, the latter included one
branch with six open bolls and one
with four, which escaped by being
pressed to the ground by the action
of the machine. This mass of trash
was placed in the separating machine
and delivered in quite as good condi-
tlon as good hand picked cotton. The
matured but unopened hollis We're
crushed and the cotton taken from
them and delivered with mass. The
machine will go over five to seven
acres per day, according to the speed
,of the team.
Texas Farm and Ranch has had
something to say about cotton har-
Ve5ters before, and that say, as is well
known, has not been favorable. These
adimadversions have not been di-
reoted against honest efforts to pro-
duce machine that will do the work
proposed, but against "ways that are
dark and tricks that are vain" The
manager of this paper has long held
and often expressed the opinion that
the solution of the cotton harvester
question was embodied in the prOduc-
zion of a variety of cotton suitable
for the purpose, and then gathering
trash and all, and afterwards
separating the cotton, ready for the
gin.
The Cunningham machines worked
daily during the fair in the presence
of all the witnesses who could be
drummed up, and there was no air Of
mystery about it.
In cotton such as that used in these
experiments, we estimate the picker
will get 81 per cent of the matured
bolls, including those not opened, and
and the separator will deliver the cot.
ton in good condition for the gin.
The writer witnessed these opera
tiOns on several different days, and
this account refers to and includes
them all.
COTTON AS A CROP.
\ perusal of the above description
of the cotton harvester must suggest
thoughts as to its advantage, or 9TH
eywise, to the cotton grower; and
probably its success will at first be
hailed as blessing to the cotton
farmer, whose present great trouble is
the expense and difficulty of securing
his crop when matured. But little
detection may show that the intro
duction of such a machine will be of
little, if any benefit to the small far
Iuer; but, on the other hand, probably
another burden of his already much
bent back. Anything that will cheap
on the cost of production will be read
lily adopted as that is the only way to
realize Il profit on cotton in the present
depressed condition of the market.
Every new labor and expense saving
machine has the pffact Of enlorUipp