The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-04-13
BIG COTTON PRODUCTION
Uses to Which This Southern
Staple is Put by Science.
U.S.GREATEST PRODUCER
Egypt and India Are Growing Cotton,
But They Do Not Count For
Much In the Market-White Men
Are Forced to Do Very Much
of the Tillino.

OF tnc liiIlnQ.
There is world of interest in the
lture of cotton 1t does not end
re, for there is something absorb
5ly interesting about every part of
transformation, from raw staple
the many attractive forms it
.tes before 1t reaches the markets.
.e bulk of the cotton crop is grown
il the South of the United States.
Egypt is producing a.gely, and India
is trying to compete, but the South
ern states control the market.
The large majority of the 5000, 900
negroes in the United States owe
their livelihood directly to this crop
They cultivate the cotton that clothes
the world. OF course, they do not
do all the work. for the white man
has been forced to do much of the
tilling himself as the negroes have
grown so shiftless and "no-account."
The ground is broken thoroughly,
then laid off in long rows of furrows.
The rows are from 1S inches to 4 feet
apart depending on the fertility of the
soil Contrary to the usual rule. the
rows must be farther apart the richer
the soil. This is because the cotton
plant must have room to spread. The
distance between the plants in the
same row is regulated by the same
rule, which is directly contrary to
that used in growing most other
crops.
The deep furrows first laid Off are
to receive the fertilizer that is to
stimulate the crop to a rapid growth.
early maturity and a consequent early
bursting of the bolls, so that the har-
vest may be over before frost, as
frost ruins the green bolls. Fertilizer
is used both as a stimulant and for
food. Most of the Southern fields
would not produce a profitable crop
OF cotton If not literally supplied with
guano or manure. Indeed there are
years when thousands of farmers do
not make enough out of their cotton
to pay for the fertilizer.
In the far South the cotton begins
to blossom early in June and by
July ! the fields are covered with
blossoms. The third day the blossoms
SANhoO oip"is " a. Hbl PIC Iti anu
then begin to wilt, soon dropping off.
aving a tiny green bud that is to
ow into a boil.
Ehe cotton bolls swell rapidly and
IN show the lines where the boil
i be divided into sections when 1t
les and opens. Cotton begins to
pen in August. The green bolls are
null of tightly-wadded cotton and cot
ton seed. This cotton bursts the bols
which then spread wide open as the
warming sun causes the cotton staple
to expand further After a few days
the locks of cotton are hanging loose
in the bolls. Hundreds Of people go
into the fields, with sacks strapped
over their shoulders, and pick the cot
ton boil by boil.
The cotton goes to the gin and is
stripped from its seed. Then it is
packed in bales of 500 pounds each,
hauled to town and sold 1t is COM
pressed. two bales into one, before it
is shipped any great distance. The
cotton reaches the mills in bale form.
1t is dirty and full of trash but a
cleaning machine soon combs out the
fibers, and cleans them thoroughly.
In many mills it is twisted into yarn,
and then sent north to be made into
cloth, but the South is rapidly becom-
ing center for mills. 1t is quite a
mill itself that is required to change
the baled cotton into long strands of
loosely-hanging lint This is put
on twisting machines and twisted into
strands of thread,
After the thread is twisted the
weaving is begun. The spool filled
with the thread that is to be the warp,
or strong cross threads of cloth, is
set at the back Of the loom and the
warp is arranged through certain
framework which regulateJ the =.
tern in the weaving process.
After the cloth is out of the loom
it passes to a macnlne known as the
brushing machine. This machine
clips off all the loose threads at the
edges of the cloth and thoroughly
brushes the cloth, putting it in as
good condition as possible without
washing.
From the brusher the cloth goes to
the following machine, which auto
matically folds the cloth in the bolts
commonly seen at stores where cotton
goods are kept. The last machine is
the baling machine, it's work being
that Of baling up the bolts Of cloth in
to bale somewhat similar to the one
which cotton first entered the mill
in. The coloring Of the cotton takes
place usually before the cotton Is
started into any of the machines, but
is sometimes done after the threads
of cotton have been spoiled
Next to the breaker picker and ex-
elusive of the loom in interest, Is
probably the spinning machines. Up
on this machine at one time are hun.
dreds of spools whirling around with
great rapidity winding the thread This
machine takes the loosely rolled threads
of cotton fed to it, and by stretching