The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-02
THE HANDLING OF COTTON
By PERCY CLARK.

a.f4- 8 .ssa ! I. Although cotton has been, one, of. tlie staples that has clothed man. we might say, since the dawn of creation, yet less progress has been made in handling it than any other of the great necessities While there are probably 50 fibre. produc- ing trees and plants known, yet conner cially there are but three varieties culti- vated-the Egyptian, the Sea Island and the Upland. largely supply the world The Egyptian cotton is crudely handled Some of it is imported into the United States on accounts of its strength of fibre The Sea 1slahdi is a variety eulti- vated along the coastal plain bordering, on the Atlantic States, as far north SIS Charleston, and also, along the. gulf coast strhe area producing this cotton ex- tenals Inland as far ass the salt sea sbreezes are felt. It is also grown in the West Indies and other islands and possesses d fibre varying from one and half to two inches in length, and the price is arbi- trary on account of the limited quantity and the uses for which there is no sub sttute, It ofteh brings twice as much as the Upland and requires a special gin on account of the fibre.
 American Uplands g...
 The use of American upland to describe cotton other than Sea Island is a mis- homer There are two distinct classes of cotton, both of which the encyclo- pedias insist on calling upland. Uplands are shorter staple Cfibre) than the cot tons produced in the dark alluvial soils of the gulf states. This cotton some times has length of staple equal to Sea Island. Particularly is this true of cot ton grown upon reclaimed land along the Mississippi the Arkansas and other rivers flowing into the gulf
 This cotton brings price approaching Sea Island and it is locally known as "benders,v from the fact that it tis large ly produced by land in the bends OF the rivers. It's color and general appearance is deceiving, for it is full of trash and dirt and has bluish color from the soil ground up in passing through the gin,
 Upland proper is grown upon either clay or mixed loams and fertilizer is used to get the best results. The staple of this cotton varies from one-half to three
 
 propagation and selection and much fer ;ilizaton, a better staple is produced on the uplands. The length of staple has much to do with the spinning of cotton, especially as to thread and finer woven fabrics. s= as t1N =tk tittt
 Since the invention of the Whitney gin, with saws upon cylinder running through set of ribs, there has been no real advancement in the ginning of cot ton This is remarkable, when we stop to consider that this staple is the most valuable, the most necessary and useful produced in the world. It has been in use for the living and for the cerements of the dead for coco years as shown by the discoveries in tombs of the ancents Ly archaeologists
 Under what may be called the primi- tive system of ginning a portion Of the file: is left on the seed and IS recoY- cred by cotton oil mills by the use of epeca1 machinery. This short staple prod uct is known as, linters, and has mar ks* value relatively lower than commer- rial cotton. r e,.sx q,
 A few days ago san announcement was made that there was in operation at Selma a new gin which cleans the seed and se- cures all of the lint If this gin shall proveta success it will add much to the talue of the cotton crop for the farmer, but it may also for. the while reduce the price he receives for his seed. But athe general and increasing use of cotton seed eil will advance the price of seed.s As It Is a 300 pound bale of lint. cotton yields about. 1000 pounds of seed, which brings the farmer from ss to sl5, according as. inc market and the demand affects the price, ss--D *.s
 Chasing Cotton a
 The chasing of cotton requires good eye for color and smoothness of fiber, Just as the expert requires a delicate sense of taste in the matter Of teas or wines. Also there is much room for dis s----------------- ---------------