The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-09-23

=
ers' Educational and Co-opera~
tive Union, Pendleton, S. c.,
and Hon. E. D. Smith, Presi-
dent S. c., Division Southern
Cotton Association, Columbia:
S. G..
Gentlemen:
The time for picking cotton
having arrived, has it ever oc.
CURED to you to look into the
question Of damage brought about
by a lack Of care for the staple
from the time it is ginned to the
time of marketing? Having liv
ed on a plantation for twenty.one
years, and at present owning and
operating one, as well as being
in the cotton business for the past
ten years, l thought possibly
that my observations along this
line might tend to show the great
amount of money lost to this cot,
ton producing country. | desire
to impress upon the farmer the
necessity of caring for the cotton
after laboring hard to the year
to make it, and there by lessen
friction between producer, buyer
and manufacturer. A large por-
ton of the farmers, as we'll as
the carriers. treat the staple as
though it were coal, allowing it
to lie on the ground for months
after ginning subject to climatic
conditions, which results in rot
and country damages.
When the cotton is ready for
the market tits picked up and Of.
fered for sale, the damage, as a
usual think, being disregarded
until subjected to the buyers in
spection, who, in protecting his
interests, will either dock for the
damage or have the cotton pick.
ed, resulting in great loss to the
farmer. Unquestionably it is to
the farmers interest to store his
cotton in a reputable warehouse,
thereby protecting himself from
loss from fire as well as damage,
and in addition he can secure
WAREHOUSE receipt for same,
which is prime mercantile paper,
and can be discounted at any
bank, allowing the farmer to sell
his cotton when he desires to do
so.
My object, however, is to i'm
press upon the farmers to house
their cotton as soon as it is gin
ned, whether it be in a ware
house, or in their barns, or
dwelling. thereby reducing the
element of damage to a mini
mum.
To my mind, one Of the most
important things the Farmers
Union and the Southern Cotton
association could handle is the
caring for cotton after it is gin
ned, and up to the time it is mar
keted. Having personally han.
died, during the past ten years,
about 100000 bales of cotton of
all grades and staple, this cotton
being shipped here from Texas
and Oklahoma on the west. to
North Carolina on the east, l do
think I am in a very fair position
to speak intelligently of the item
of damage: largely caused by the
carelessness.
In addition to the rotten cotton
on thousands of bales, varying
from five to as much as three
hundred pounds per bale, all of
which has to be picked off before
settling for and which is caused
by allowing the cotton to sit on
the end or lie on one side in the
mud and rain for months before
being offered for sale: there is
another element of damage which
is not so easily detected. but
which has a far more reaching
efec5 on the buver, as well as the
manufacturer. / refer to what is
called country damage.
Wnen cottonis allowed to stand
in the weather after being gin
ned for any length of time, al
though the owner may turn IL
about from side to side to keep it
from rotting, the staple of the
cotton on the outside of the bale
is affected just in proportion to
the time it is allowed to remain
exposed to climatic conditions.
To illustrate, bale of cotton
ginned and packed December the
first and allowed to remain in the
weather until the first of March,
will have about half as much
country damages as the same
bale would have if it remained in
the weather until May the first,
and when the manufacturer opens
this bale, he will find that the
cotton sticking to the bagging
and extending inward is practi-
cally without any strength OF
staple, and as result all of this
affected cotton will go in waste
or be found in the shaftlngs over
head. Should the buyer detect
this country damage, the farm
er. is the loser; should the buyer
not detect it, the buyer is the
loser; in any event, dissatisfac-
ton is the result, all of which
could have been avoided by hous-
ing the cotton. The amount of
oo,,nt,r 1or,oro y-arioc in nrO.