Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1899-02-01
MONKEY PICKERS.
An Interesting Experiment Being
Tried In Mississippi Cotton Fields.
SAID TO BE SUCCESSFUL,
Can Pick as Much Cotton as
Negroes and the Expese is Only
One Third as Great-This Ex-
pertinent May Lead to
Revolution in Cotton licking.
Mr.. Tom G.. Lane contributes
the following to the Southern Cot

Mr.. Tom G. Lane contr, butes
the following to the Southern Cot
ton Planters Journal:
Two years ago, at the Vicksburg
fair, in the fall of 1896, as Prof.
S. M. Tracey and Mr. w. w.
Mansnm were watching some
trained monkeys perform their
various tricks, Professor Tracey
said to Mr.. Mangum:
'sAs sure as you are alive,
Mangum, those monkeys can be
taught to pick cotton better and
more cheaply than our negroes
do, and perpetual fame will be
the part of the man who first tried
the experiment."
At first Mr.. Mangum was inclin-
ed to laugh at the idea, but the
more be thought over the matter,
and the more he watched the mon
keys at their various tricks, the
more be became convinced that
there was something in it, and the
next day as he left the professor
at the Carroll hotel, he said:
"Well professor, I have been
thinking over your suggestion of
teaching monkeys to pick cotton,
and am determined to Lry the
thing and see if it will work.
they have been taught to do much
more difficult things than that, and
l am almost sure they can be
taught to pick cotton. We can't
rely Oh the niggers muck longer,
and next fall | am going to buy
me dozen monkeys and see what
can be done"
The next fall. that is in Septem-
her of 1897, Mr.. Mapgum hunted
up the owner aud trainer of ten
trained monkey 8 IN New York City,
and make arrangements both to
buy thr monkeys, and to get the
SERVICES of their trainer who under
stood the business, and assured
MIR. ManIum that it would be the
simplest thing imaginable to teach
monkeys 10. pick cotton.
These were placed upon one of
Mr.. Aiangum's Mississippi plauta-
tons about the middle of Septem-
ber of that years, and the training
began. The monkeys belonged to
the race known to scientists as
Sphaglnlis Vulgaris, and the males
weigh about 10 pounds and the
females about 80 pounds each.
Bags were made for each monkey,
which would hold about 25 pounds
of seed cotton, and a bag placed
over the shoulder of each, 1t is
surprising how rapidly the trainer
taught The monkeys to pick cotton.
Baskets to hold the cotton were
placed at the end of the rows, and,
Cleaner cott6sh,s BUT they %5d5d Sail1 also
pick more of it in a day. In less
than "a month after the monkeys
started at the work they could
pick on average of $50 pounds
day. They picked in weather in
whichnegroes would not pick, and
picked cleaner cotton. The cost
of picking vas much lass, and is
every way they made much better
pickers than the average negro.
The first experiment, although
on small scale, proved to Mr..
Mangrum that monkeys could be
used with great success as cotton
pickers, So IN June of 1898 he
made an order for 300 monkeys of
the same breed, on an exporter of
monkeys from Africa, with the
understanding that most of them
were to be females. About the
first of September of this year the
new batch of monkeys arrived, and
the service of the old trainers was
engaged to train this new lot.
But this was not such as an easy
matter as was at first thought, for
many of the hew. monkeys were
still wild. But the trainer
thoroughly understands his
business, having served for a long
time under Barnum as trainer
of monkeys. Finally with the aid
of the ten old monkeys, who were
of great assistance, and a great
keal of punishment and rewarding,
the gang pretty we'll trained
by the middle of October.
have ,,atoboJ 4bic o~yor;po ont