El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-08

how cotton is raised The ground IS
plowed and narrowed in March and
the burrows thrown I'D So as TO make
rows Of hills about three or four IeeI
apart Along the middle OF AGicl OF
in April the cotton is planted Inc
seeds. which are small and black ana
a lite larger than buckshot- are
drilled in, and few days later the
green sprouts come through the soil
They grow rapidly under good Guilt
walton
The rrop is pIowed much like corn,
and the weeds are kept down. The
plants are thinned or chopped out
from time TO time until they are one
or two feet apart IN the rows IheS
+ begin 10 blossom IN june Whcu lhe
fields look like great gardens OF roses
The first day they come ont they are
white or cream color. on the second
day they become darker and redder.
and on the third or fourth they ran
TO the ground leaving the tiny Dolls
which Srow to the size and shape OF
a hens egg They soon crack open
and the white cotton bursts out 1t Is
now ready for picking The crop does
not rjpen all at once. and the plckers
90 over the field a half dozen or
more times during the harvesting sea-
son. which begins in the Tar south
and Texas in July, and lasts until late
in the fall In Georgia and IN Norln
and south Carolina some OF the cotton
is still being gathered at Christmas
Harvesting cotton is an expensive
item. The most of the picking is stiu
done by hand. and many question
whether an efficient machine picker
will ever be found, although there are
cotton picking machines in the mar
ket. At the picking time the whole or
the farming community is found in
the fields, and men, women and chill
dren go through the rows and gather
the white lint Of seed cotton into has
kets and bags. The most of the pick
ing is done in sacks, which are
emptied into large baskets at the end
of the rows.
The quantity that each picker gath
ers is different. Some hands can pick
only loo pounds a day. while others
gather 200 or 800 in the same time
Some Of the best pickers are women
and children The prices of picking
vary according to season Fifty cents
per 100 pounds OF seed has been the
price in many localities. but il often
runs to 81 per 100 and upward, and il
will probably be very high this fall
At IS cents per hundred the cost Of
Is cents. so that il is likely to be
three or more cents per pound Tor the
crop this year.
After the picking the cotton must he
einned and pressed into bales 10 IS
usually sold I'm the baIe, being hauled
back home from the gin or 20 the
warehouse. where il is held until the
market is right The warehouse
charges are from 10 TO so cents 2 bale. F.
depending upon the place and length
Of time II Is kept in storage. The to-
tai cost for storing. selling and in
surance varies from 81 10 - and up
ward bale
Getting out the SEED
Ginning the cotton is necessary to-
get the seed out The lint OF raw cot ,
ton is wrapped around the seed so
tightly that il would take DAYS to
separate oy hand what machinery will
do in a very few minutes. About a
century ago IL took one person ten
hours or more TO save a pound Of
white lint The work was so great
that II was not profitable 20 raise cot 1
ton, and II was only when Eli Whit /
ney Invented the cotton gin that crops
Ike those OF today became a posi- ]
bilIty- Now there are gins all over the I
south, and large ginning este Dlish- I
ments in every cotton locality. These I
are run by steam. and the farmer can
bring in his seed cotton in an open
wagon and the suction tubes viii take
i- into the gin and drop IL onto the 4
saws. The cotton goes through the
MACHINERY which tears off the lint. .
II rolls out in fleecy sheet which .
looks like cotton batting. falling down T
on the floor in a snowy white noun J
carries fl 10 the compress. where it
rs bsled- II can be delivered hack TO ;
the farmer within = comparatively few T.
minutes after 1t has come from his
wagon
PAYS Debts OF Many.
Af-er in Is Einncd and ba-eI the COT
ton Is ready for the market. This is .
done Al the warehouse or elsewhere .
through an agent, VINO may charge 81 .
or more Tor each 1ale- Many Of the .
farmers make their own sales the /
buyers bidding against each other for Z
the product Not a few Of those who .
raise the crop on credit have TO mar
ket IL through the bankers or store
keepers. who advance the money in .
the way OF cash or goods AT high rates
OF interest As result the poor
planter gets a comparatively small d
amount for his crop The creditor does
the figuring. and the results are so
Disappointing that the negro cotton