The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-03-03
A COTTON PICKER.
A Successful Machine Brought to At
tention Of Government.
The Apparatus Was Tested Near
Montgomery, Alabama. The
Tests Fully Described.

riculture indicate that q cotton pick
ing machine which will really pick
cotton has been invented and has stood
q practical test. The patent Office Is
filled with designs of cotton picking
machines that have been filed In the
past, but no entirely satisfactory re-
suits have ever been attained. Last
year an apparatus designed by G. a.
Lowry, who invented the round bale
ginning machine, was brought to the
attention Of the bureau OF plant In
dustry Of the department Of agricul-
ture, and the chief Of that office, Pro.
fessor B. L. Galloway, arranged to
have the operations Of the device In
spccted by j. +. Duggar, director OF
the Alabama experiment station, and
Q. 81. Billingsley, an agent OF The de-
partment. The tests we're made near
Montgomery. Mr.. Billingsley's report
has reached Professor Galloway and
has been found to contain many points
OF interest. 1t is as follows:
Briefly stated, the machine con-
sists OF frame on four wheels, two OF
which are fanged traction or driye
wheels; a four horsepower gasoline
engine which drives the sup
porting wheels by means Of splocket
chain connections, thu; carrying the
entire machine forward at a rate which
Is under the control Of the operator.
The engine also drives the mechanism
which carries the picking belts. The
essential part Of the machine Is the
picking arms. There are eight of
tbeSe-one for each hand of the four
operators, who ride on the machine
for the purpose OF directing these pick
ing arms. Last, there is an engineer
to guide the machine and four men or
boys preferably boys) to point tn tips
Of these picking arms at the open bolls
as the machine moves past the plant.
Each picking arm may be likened
to small tin trough closed on the sides
AMI bottom and open on the top. This
trough is about IA inches wide and
about the same deep. In Its bottom
runs an endless belt of cloth and rub
Der inches wide and thickly Sudden
with metal tacks bent upward, some
thing like the cards used in making
bats OF wool and cotton. These tacks
do the picking, the contact Of even a
few fihers being sufficient to draw the
entire contents Of an open boil against
the t; which carries the seed cotton
up f t into receptacle. This bal,
travels at the rate Of 360 feet per min
ute. The lower end OF the trough ha
no sides or bottom, tt US exposing
about 3 inches Of the under side Of tn.
studded belt, as we'll as its lowsr enc
and upper side. This permits tn pick
ing Of a boil either from above CT from
below OF even makes possible the pick
ing Of cotton from the ground. tried
the handling OF the arms and fouad
them so light, movable and nicely bal
anced Is to make the guiding Of that
an easl task.
With cotton stems as brittle as
those used in testing t -1achlne, u
small proportion of boil 'ak of and
both burrs sdtSo 5uol start up
the en- 1ess belt. Most OF thesn burrs
Are KIN )cked or and thrown out by o
loose small roller and by series Of
wire PINS in he sides of the trough
and about hal an inch above the out
er surface Of ne tacks or teeth Of the
picking belt An effective brush re.
moves the seec cotton from the endless
belt very thoroughly.
Il consider the principles on which
the machine operates correct anG
practical. In few features 1t is in
an experimental stage. The cotton
grower will demand the following re
quirements of a cotton picker.
Il. Thoroughness OF work; that is,
the picking of large percentage Of
the total seed cotton in the field, leav
ing little adhering to the plant or on
the ground.
p a product in picked seed cot
ton, not excessively trashy or contain
ing much trash beyond the possibility
OF removal of clearing machinery at
the gin.
''3 Durability Of const. uc.ion, with
such simplicity and lightness as to
bring its cost within reach without
much expense for interest on the in.
vestment.
"A. Economical operations; not re-
qul-ing excessive labor or fuel, and no
great degree OF technical Skill on the
part OF the chief operator.
IS. The capacity to pick n uck more
cooton per day than could be picked
by field hands equal in number to the
crew required for the machine.
The conditions under which the
test were made are described by Mr..
Biliingsley as follows:
Cotton plants: Entirely dead, near
ly all OF the leaves dropped; picked
once bniorc and now only about three
and ore half bolls to the plant. The
plants we're small, about 20 or % inch
es high, in 4 foot rows, thick in the
drill, poorly thinned so there we're
many plants together in many Gases
The variety was Peterkin, which has
very small bolls, aud. in this case,
contained a large percentage Of i'm
mature frosted bolls only partially
opened.
Soil: Sandy or sandy loan, quite
dry, In which the machine moved
easily. In places crab grass was thick
ly entangled with the open cotton, but
this condition did not prevent salts
factory work. although increasing the
trash.
TO test the thoroughness Of the
work, samples were taken of all the
seed cotton left unpicked or on the
ground on definite number OF plants.
This was done where the machine had
operated, and for COMPARISON, where
I l.. II i -l~t.f i