The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-11-23
THE BALING OF COTTON.


THE BALING OF COTTON.
, An Experienced Manufacturer Take
Ground Against the Use OF tn
Round Bale.
, The cylindrical or round bale of cot
, ton ls attracting much attention, an,
we append herewith from the Manu-
iacturers' Record letter from Col
JAS. l.. Orr, Of the Piedmont mills
who opposes the use OF round bales fo
reasons given by him. His position
has been criticised by cotton experts
who contend that he is in error. Col
Orr's letter will prove interesting tt
farmers
In this issue we publish q letter from
Mr.. James l.. Orr, president of the
Piedmont Cotton Manufacturing Co..
one OF the foremost cotton mill men ol
south Carolina, In which he takes very
decided ground against the round
bale. The Manufacturers Record re.
CARDS his position as untenable and
thinks that he has presente, In en-
tirely erroneous statement Of :, &C. e.
but when u man Of Mr.. Orr's position
In the cotton manufacturing world ad-
vances an argument against anything
bearing on cotton it demands the most
careful investigation, and with this in
view the Manufacturers Record, in
order that both sides OF the case might
be stated, submitted q COPY of MIR
Orr's letter to Col. Alfred b. Shepper-
son, the well-known cotton statistician
OF New York, who Is recognized
throughout the cotton world as care
iui, conservative authority, always
friendly to the Southern planter, aud
tn i,I ward Atki hn i,t; 4
publicist of Boston, and asked them to
present reply to the points made by
Mr.. Orr. The letters are published in
connection, in order that both sides OF
the case may be fully stated Mr.. Orr
writes as follows:
Editor Manufacturers Record:
he question is much debated
whether the proposed round bale of
cotton is desirable. We would answer
IN the affirmative so far as the ex-
porter is concerned, but in the mega
tive as to the producer and Southern
manufacturer. The producers, vino
own the ginneries, would lose the ma
chinery now in operation IL the Ameri-
can. Cotton Co. erected its own gins
anu presses, which would amount to
800, 600, 900, il there are, as reported,
10000 ginheries in the South valued at
an average OF 81 ,250.
The present outfits, being inexpen-
5ive, are numerous and scattered over
the whole cotton producing section
the new System, being more costly and
capable OF greater work, would be
further apart, and we must allow for
the additional expense OF hauling.
The next loss which the producer
would suffer, aud for all time, would
be on the covering OF the bale Now
bp nf,-f -fua
pattern OF bagging and ties, weighing
twenty-five pounds. This he sells, II
cotton is seven cents per pound, at
81 54, making profit OF seventy-nine
cents IL he covered with duck on the
round bale he would buy about six
pounds, for which he would pay at
least fifteen cents per pound, amount
ing to ninety cents. This he would
sell, say, at seven cents, realiZiny
forty-two cents and making an ad-
dltional loss OF forty-eight cents, or an
aggregate OF Sl.27 per bale. While
the Southern farmers are willing to
lose 81 bale by using the cotton
bagging to break up the bagging trust,
they would hardly be willing to con-
tribute Sl.27 per bale to build up the
American Cotton Trust The loss OF
Sl.27 per bale on crop OF 5000, 600
would be an absolute loss of $ll ,43O, 900
every year to the South farmers.
The round bales would be of immense
advantage to the insurance and rail
road companies, but terrible blow to
the producer. While there is no oues-
tion that the round bale is better pro-
tected and more easily handled than
the square, 1t presents several serious
disadvantages to manufacturers who
use uncompressed cotton. In order to
work cotton to the best advantage it is
absolutely necessary to expose it to
the air before putting it in the machi-
merry, which is done in the opening
room Now, anyone who ever tried to
tear up picker-lap will testify TO the
difficulty. round bale Is at least six
times the density Of the picker-lap.
An opening gang will tear up and
spread about two laps in the same time
they can one square bale. You can
see, therefore, at a glance how much
moro time, trouble and expense the
round bale would require to open up
than the square.
The terrific PRESSURE to which the
round bale is subjected, instead of
being an advantage, as claimed, Is a
disadvantage, for 1t Is applied to q
very thin layer of cotton instead of the
whole bale, as In the compress, and
the result is that the fibre, which
Is hollow Is mashed fiat and thereby
irreparably injured.
The object In manufacturing cotto1
Is to lay the fibre smooth and even
Now, II 1t is allowed to remain in 8
round bale for any considerable time
1t retsins the curve into which 1t IL
forced and becomes extremely difficult
to handle, and makes additional waste
and loss In every process through
which 1t passes.
The claim OF the advocates for the
round bale Of selecting two samples a
, the bale is being ginned and thu
avoiding being resampled would worl
, practically IL the cotton were soil
, directly by producer to manufacturer
and you could rely on the statemen
> that 1t truly represented the whole bale
> but as cotton passes through from tw
!, , to six hands before reaching its dest
nation, and each man must guarante
3 the grade, It. will be found necessary t
have more samples and an examine
tion OF the bale itself to avoid misre
: presentation. The round bale prevent
Q this, and offers every opportunity fo
fraud imaginable, and the man VIII