The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1922-05-19

a cotton picker. Fairly successful
choppers have been built and on the
market for the past several years
now, but the demand for them was
never so urgent as II was for prac-
teal cotton picker. Inventors by the
score have spent lifetimes trying un-
successfully to perfect q machine
which would pick more cotton than
a man could, and do it without in
Il juring the stalk and unripened fruit
In the machine worked out by L..
c. Stukenborg, Of Memphis, Tenn,
many farm writer's believe the prob
lem has been solved. Stukenborg's
machine works on the vacuum sue
ton principle, but unlike previous
suction "pickers," it is not allowed
to envelop the whole stalk, taking
not only cotton, but leaves and some
time bolls. A nozzle about the size
of mans fist is used, and is guided
by man who stands on the ground
and directs il in pursuit Of individual
open bolls.
Run BY Dynamo.
Four flexible tubes, each with its
nozzle, form the equipment Of each
picker, and a tractor provides both
locomotion and power for the sue
ton. The tractor power is not trans
mitted direct, but it runs a small dy-
namo, which, in turn, runs the sue
ton motor, giving, it is claimed.
much more uniform operation.
The picking machine" does not
move steadily forward, as previous
device have attempted to do, but pro-
crosses about fifty feet at a time,
when il stops TO let the operators
gather all the staple within the rad
Jus of the flexible tubes.
The nozzle at the end Of each tube
is provided with two small revolving
drums, equipped with bristles which
draw in the locks with which they
come in contact. The cotton is clean
ed by being thrown against a screen
at the center Of the machine, where
an air blast takes out the dirt and
trash picked up. This is the feature
which il is claimed makes the cotton
worth SO to SIS a bale more to the
spinner than the hand picked cotton.
Leaves Unripe Cotton.
Unripe cotton. which does not
slip from the boil as easily as mature
cotton, is not gathered by the ma
chine, as the bristles are too flexible
20 grasp il, it is claimed, providing
another factor in the increased value
Of the bale Another point of ad-
vantage to the farmer, according TO
the manufacturer, is that from so TO
$50 less pounds Of seed cotton are
required TO make a 500-pound bale
Of lint. Exclusion Of dirt is given
as the reason.
Another instance Of the "discrm-
nation" which the machine appears
20 exercise in the selection of the
staple il picks, is that weevil-dam- |
aged cotton, which clngs % the boil
much as does unripe cotton, also Is
not picked
COW Is said TO have furnished
the inspiration for the drum and .
section combination which features 4
Stukenborg's machine. The inven- .
tor, after having spent many years
trying TO perfect a gathering device.
watched a stray calf eating cotton
out of the bOls for the seed In it.
She accomplished the picking" by
means Of her rough tongue which
suggested to Stukenborg the bristle-
studded spools
Indiana Tractor Used.
After getting the picker part Of
his machine worked out 20 his -atis-
faction, Stukenborg looked around
for a suitable tractor which could
supply the power and locomotion.
He choose the INDIAN. made By
the Indiana Silo and Tractor Com /
pany, at Anderson, a machine Of the I
two-wheeled type with an arched
axle which would permit "stradding
the rows"
The adoption OF the electric sue
ton drive was due 20 the influence
Of George B. Ayers. president of the
Indiana company. who took leaf
from the navy dreadnaughts' book
Of efficiency secrets When com
pleted the machine was shipped
south, and has now been proven out
for three years preparatory 20 being
placed on the market The "pick-
err sells for $3.50, and the tractor
brings the total % S1,415.
IN the advent Of the new spider
Ike machine, Harry F. Ross. in the
Indianapolis News, sees an end %
the romance Of the Southern cotton
field mmortalized IN song By
stephen Foster. writer Of cold Black
Joe. ~ and b. writer's Of many popu-
Tar melodies since.
The new picker. however. is claim
cd 20 make up the efficiency what e
lacks in romance. hand pickers who
could CLEAN 100 pounds of staple a
day being enabled 20 touch the 400
pound mark. Negro labor is adapted
10 running the suction nozzles, il Is
claimed by the manufacturer.