The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-08-20
A WONDERFUL PROCESS

Man SAYS HE CAN ARTIF1CIALLY
NATURE COTTON.
Subjects Green BoIls to Chemical
Treatment and in Few Hours Cot
ton is Fully Developed.
Every now and then the world is
surprised by the perfection Of some
great invention, but We feel sure that
none has been more wonderful than
one claimed by Prof. John B. Hall,
Of Philadelphia, in talk at Barn..
we'll. He came to Barrwell, referred
to Col. Harry D. Calhoun, by Com
missioner E. J. Watson, in order to
try bolls for experimental purposes
at his station in Pennsylvania. We
copy the following from The Barn
well People of Thursday in regard to
his visit to that city:
That with new process that he
has only recently perfected he can
do in two hours what it takes Nature
weeks to accomplish and do it better
at that, was the assertion made by
John B. Hall, Of Philadelphia, to a
number of planters and representa-
tive business men in the directors
room of the Home Bank Of Barnwell
Friday evening. For an hour or
more Mr.. Hall told of the results that
have been accomplished and it was
like listening to fairy tale, wherein
the good fairy waves her magic wand
and unheard Of things happen. But
that he was in earnest no one doubt
ed. He was not trying to sell any
thing; he had no apparent 'eason to
wish to humbug any one Ias not
asking for something TO-. l. thing
on the contrary, he paid and was
willing to pay well for what he want
ed; i. e., green bolls of cotton. He
bought several hundred pounds of
short and long staple cotton bolls at
from FIVE to seven and half cents a
pound, depending on the variety Of
the cotton, and in addition made ar
rangements for the purchase Of sew
eral thousand pounds more to be
shipped to Philadelphia, where the
experiments are being carried on at
a government station.
Mr.. Hall exhibited q number of
open bolls of cotton which he said
| were matured by his process. One
of them was partly rotted, while an
other had been punctured by the boil
weevil in several places. Yet they
had opened and by dyeing the staple
a part Of it can be used. The boil
weevil has cost the farmers Of the
southwest millions Of dollars by de-
stroying the bolls before they have
reached maturity. Mr.. Hall claims
that with his process the boil weevil
will be starved out.
At present the experiments are be-
ing carried on secretly as letters
patent have not yet been secured, but
the method Of procedure is as fol-
lows: Instead Of waiting until the
bolls have fully opened and the cot
ton Is damaged by the weather, the
green bolls are picked like roses
! 1t doesn't matter if they are one,
two, three, four or FIVE weeks from
| maturity. They are then poured into
| an immense hopper and pass into the
machine where the maturing process
is done. Then the seed cotton is
separated from the boil and is car
ried to the gin.
But what is just as wonderful is
that Mr.. Hall states that the by-pro-
ducts that can be made from bolls
and stalks are as valuable as the cot
ton itself. He stated that an excel
lent grade Of rubber, paper pulp and
gunpowder are among the by-pro-
ducts.
Now, if he can make good" on his
claims he is perhaps the most Won
derful man Of the age. Think a min
ute what il would mean. A saving
of waste by eliminating immature or
frost-oitten bolls and Of the cotton
that is blown off by the wind after
maturity. The saving Of labor, for
by picking the whole bill from the
plant one workman could do the
| work of several. It now costs some
thing like s100,0o0,000 a year to
gather the cotton crop Of the South
and by cutting this in half there
would be a saving Of s50,000,00O
yearly.
1t is claimed that the plants could
be placed closer together and more
grown to the acre than Is now the
case, and that the farmers would be
more careful in their seed selection.
Now as to the texture Of the staple
that is >rtihcially matured: Mr.. Hall
claims that it is far superior to the
same grade Of cotton naturally ma
tured because cotton as matured
| now on the field while waiting to be
picked, is subjected to the dews or
chill OF the night followed by the
heat of the sun next day or possibly
some days OF rain or climatic condi-
, tions of some kind, together with the
dirt or dust blown on the cotton. The
gloss on the artificially matured cot
ton would be of brilliancy and
whiteness, free from all weather
stains, far superior to that possible
on any cotton naturally matured and
exposed to deteriorating weather con-
ditions. The fibre also would GER
tainly be much stronger for the same