The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-12-01
WILL DO THE WORK
THAT IS WHAT is SAID OF THE
NEW COTTON PICKER

NEW COI1ON E1ChNn"
II 1t Proves True It Will Revolu-
tionize the Planting Of; Cotton in
the South.
According to an article In the
Worlds Work, by Mr.. A.r:sW. Page,
the problem Of picking cotton by
machinery has been successfully, ,soly-
ed. Angus Campbell, Scotch pat
tern maker OF Chicago, is given cred
| it for this achievement. Twenty-Five
years of experimentation attest Mr.;
Campbell's interest in the question:
During that time he has made ma
chimes of many types and has brought
them one after the other from fac
tory to cotton field only to meet with
ridlcule when he attempted to put
the picker into operation.
He worked on and in the Fall OF
1908 he succeeded in parsuadins
! Theodore H. Price, the big New York
cotton dealer. into sending An engl-
.neeer to Texas, for the purpose Of
viewing nj work the one machine
which the Campbell company pos
sessed. AS the result of the engl-
neer's report Mr.. Price himself went
on to Texas, taking with him MIR.
Herbert e. Walmsley, a former pres
idens Of the New England Spinners'
Association, Mr.. Arthur Hamerslagg,
Of the Carnegie Technical School, of
Pittsburg, and Mr.. Percy Freeman,
the Dallas agent of big English
cotton buying house.
The entire quartette were sKepti-
cal-but only upon arrival. They
saw the machine at work and they
returned convinced that 1t was snc-
cess and would revolutiorize cot, III
picking. Their. verdict, according TO
Mr.. Page, stands. The machine IS
not put forward at this time as
perfected instrument, and number
of Improvement have been made In
the last few months, but it works
now and as Mr.. Page suggests, 1t
is much further advanced than the
gin or the reaper or the telephone
| when they made their first appear
ance."
'"The machine ITSELF says Mr..
Page, "is about as inspiring sight as
the gin was in Whitney's day. 1t
is small gasoline, traction engine,
! with two picking attachments swung
under it, and a pair of canvass bags
hung out behind. 1t travels through
the field about as fast as a man
walks, taking the cotton plant be-
tween the wheels, where it Is picked
over by almost countless, revolving
steel fingers, which catch the lint
but leave the plant uninjured, SO
that the later bolls may mature. To
leave the unripe bolls has been the
great difficulty in making a me-
chanical cotton picker.
"The picking machinery is on two
drums, which hang from the frame
of the tractor, one on each side OF
the cotton plant as THE machine
straddles the row. An endless chain
of upright cylinders Of small diane
ter follow each other. around the
drum. From these cylinders the
needles which do the picking project
; horizontally into the plant. When
the machine starts everything moves
with motion of it's own. The drum
carries the cylinders around: tht cyl
inders poke the needles into the
plant at the proper angle. and tho
fingers in turn catch the cotton.
every motion is delicately ad.
iusted. The fingers move fast enough
! to catch the fibre, but not fast enough
! to throw it off. The cylinders bring
each finger into place at the proper
time, so that there is never space
large enough for the open boil &c
pass through without touching fin
ger. The drum is moving backward
I at the same rate that the whole ma.
chine moves forward so that the pick
ing needles do not move horizontally
through the plant, but merely turn
in it,
AS The News and Courier says IT
! is almost impossible to over-estimate
the Importance of this machine te
the South if in practical daily use II
shall measure up to what Is here
claimed for It, The expense of oper'
ating IT., it is estimated, would be
approximately: for driver, $1.3O; fol
gasoline and oil. $3.50: for boy
+, $500; allowance for repairs, sl.00--
total, the day, of $500. The ma
chine will cover at least eight acres
a day. Mr. Page estimates that with
the machine a farm Of 100 acres
can be picked over twice in twenty
| five days. at a cost of $3.50.
THE saving over the hand-pick'
ing method would depend, OF course
upon individual conditions, upon the
price per 100 pounds paid to cotton
! pickers, upon the yield per acre, upon
the lay OF the land as affecting the
! operations OF the machine. Where
as in Texas, cotton pickers have ask
ed $1.10 the hundred this season
the difference would be very consid'
erable. Upon soil where the yield
ner acre was very light II would