The leader., 1904-01-27
A NEW COTTON PICKER.
A Memphis Man Has Invented One It is
Claimed viii Work.

CO1IO y OaAo OC0n az WIN vi q
pneumatic cotton picker, is in re-
ceipt of notification that he has
been granted patents on several
Improvements on his machine.
He has been at work on these
Improvements for some time, and
about last April perfected them
and sent them to his attorneys to
secure additional patents to pro-
tect them. These have been Sc
cured and with the additional pro-
lection which they give the COM
pany behind the enterprise are
making preparations to 60 ahead
with the actual manufacture of
the machines for the market.
The picker, which Mr.. Zempter
and his company propose to put
on the market, is the fruit of a
good many years of patient toll
and some hardship on the part of
the inventor. 1t is essentially a
Memphis product.
The invention of a cotton picker
that would pick cotton, one that
could be relied on to do the work
that the negroes are called upon
to do, and which they do, if it
suits their convenience, has been
the goal of many an inventors
mind for the past half century.
Many thousands of dollars have
been spent in trying to give to
the cotton States a picker that
would pick. Mr.. Zempter seems
to have solved the problem. His
machine was tried last season, mi
nus a number of the improve
ments for which he has just been
granted patent, and did good
work. The picker which was
tried during the present season
had most of these Improvements
and did the work that was highly
satisfactory to the inventor and
the capitalists who are backing
him.
The picker is called pneumatic
cotton picker. The name comes
from the power or means used to
get the cotton from the open hollis.
The picker is mounted on a high
arched frame; a sort of wagon.
This wagon covers one row. The
hose, which can be attached to
different parts Of the machine, al
lows the men operating it to pick
two rows on each side of the ma
chimes which with the down or
row under the picker machinery,
give a total of five rows that can
be picked at one trip. The speed
with which the cotton can be gath
cred depends only on the skill of
the men who have the handling of
the two and half suction hose.
These are directly connected with
the 26-inch blower, which pulls
the cotton from the bolls, through
the blower, and dumps it in a
snake, or large bag attached to the
bed of the machine. The power
to run the blower, or suction fan
is secured from a 6-horse power
gasoline engine which sits on the
front of the picker frame. When
the end of a set of rows is reached
all that is necessary is for the
driver of the mules to turn around
and go back over another set of
rows. The engine is Kept running
all of the time, hence there is no
delay at the turns. One Of the
operators, or the man who drives
the team, is supposed to watch the
snake, and when it is full, unlock
it and attach another, which takes
but few miutes. These snakes,
owing to the force with which the
cotton is sent into them by the
powerful blower, are packed
tighter than they can be 'tramped''
by the old time method. Five
men are required to operate the
Zempter picker. It has a capacity
Of 1900 to 5000 pounds of cotton
per day, Of ten hours, or about
200 pounds pei man per day, or
more than four times the amount
that can be picked by hand. The
expense of operation is very
small, and with the amount Of
work it is expected to do, it will
be much cheaper in the long run
to pick cotton BY machinery. An
other feature done by the picker
is that all Of the cotton handled
by it is much cleaner than the
work can be done by hand. The
ends OF the hose are so constructed
as to catch nearly all of the leaves
that may be attached to the open
.bolls, and the force is such, to-
gether with the manner of protect
ing the hose ends that it viii not
pull che bolls to pieces.
Al company has been organized,
incorporated under the laws Of this
State, for the manufacture of the
Zempter pickers. The company
is capitalized at $3.50, 900. 4
large part Of the stock has been
sold, all ii fact that was for sale.
This gives the promoters Of the
nnfnrysrissn q y01d amount of pvofl5z
ing capital. Recent tests on d
farm near this city have demon
|strated to the entire satisfaction Of
the company that it IS a success
and they will have about a dozen
machines on the market for the
coming season. Much of the
work Of manufacture will be done
80 Memphis, although some Of
the parts viii have to be made else.