The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-10-16
Will DO THE WORK
THE COTTON PICKER HAS BEEN
MADE NEAR PERFECT.

THE COTTON PICKER HAS BEEN
MADE NEAR PERFECT.
1t Will Now Be Manufactured and
Put on the Market for the Next
Years Crop.
"Is the solution of the cotton-pick-
ing problem near at hand?" asks the
Greenyille Piedmont, which goes on
to say: 1T seems almost too much
to even hope that such is the case
but there are indications that it is"
The solution comes in the form Of a
machine, invented by Theodore H.
Price, we'll known the country over.
This machine was invented several
years ago but not until this year has
it reached a state bordering anything
like upon perfection. There are
many faults to be found with it yet
but according to those who have seen
it work, it is sure to be in general
use in short time.
Mr.. Price gave a demonstration
with the machine near Charlotte, \.
c., last fall. In the year, which has
interviewed, he has made sore more
Improvements in it and this eek he
gave a demonstration at Laurinburg,
\ C. Editor Wade H. Harris of The
Charlotte Observer, saw the machine
at work near Charlotte last fall and
he saw it at work last week at Laur-
inburg. The conclusions which he
reaches are most interesting.
Mr.. Harris states that to all ap-
pearances the machine is about the
same as it was when it was operated
in Charlotte and that on the first
picking it does about the same char
acter of work. On the second, how
ever, it leaves less than per cent. Of
cotton in the bolls or on the ground.
Mr.. Harris says that the machin-
cry OF the picker seems to have a
more rapid and more dependable
movement and that it does better
work is ~maifest. However" he
continues" it is not yet perfected.
1t is only improved in efficiency. Mr..
Price conceived the idea Of perform
ing a second picking for the benefit
of the large number of farmers,
business men and capitalists who had
assembled to see what the machine
could do.
The result increased faith in the
utility of the machine. AS in the
first going over by the picker, Meth
ec the green leaves, nor the unop-
ened bolls were injured by the sec
ond picking, and the rows gone over
the second tine were practically
clean Of cotton. The percentage un-
picked would not be over per cent.
oossioly it would be less than that,
One hand employed to gather the
cotton unpicked or knocked out,
could easily accomplish the work.
"Oae notable improvement is that
the picking machinery has been low
cred so as to catch more Of the bot
rom bolls. AS was the case last year,
he machine in passing over the
rows, would bend the stalks for
ward. The stalks would sweep back
to an erect position as the machine
would pass, but it is this bending OF
the stalks that leaves any cotton at
all unpicked. 1t is like drawing a
glove through the hand. The fold
ing limbs prevents the frgers Of the
picker from getting ia ?. ~ :"t1a
This is a detail which will be yet
worked out. That done, the Price
cotton picking machine will be about
as near perfection in the cotton field
as the Mergenthaler machine now is
in the printing Office"
One interesting piece of informa-
ton given by Mr. Harris is that Mr..
Price expects to have the machines
made in the South when be shall
have been enabled to assemble the
necessary skilled labor and machin-
cry for the purpose. He is prudently
slow in booking orde1s. From this
seasons try-out he expects to gain
valuable experience that will result
in progress in the Improvements that
are bound to come so it will natural
ly follow that the machine of 1913
will do better work than the machine
now on the market.
Mr.. Harris concludes: "Those who
saw the operations Of the machines
in the Laurinburg field appeared con-
yinced of two things. That the Price
machine will pick cotton and that a
successful machine picker, one adapt
ed to any cotton field in the south, is
at hand. 1t might be said that the
experimental stage has been passed,
the skeptics have grown fewer in
number and faith in Price and his
machine has risen to about par"
Gathering the cotton from the
fields has become one of the greatest
problems of the year with the south
ern farmers. In the olden days cot
ton-pickers were plentiful and their
hire cheap but now they are so scarce
that much cotton is per necessity al
lowed to go to waste each year. In
Texas this year the situation is re-
garded as critical. The planters are
unable to secure laborers for neither
"love nor money. Business men
are closing their stores and going
out in the fields to aid in the gather
ing of the crop.
So that Mr.. Prices machine comes
as a blessing if it is to be what those
who have seen it in operation say.