Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]
[ocr errors]

By Marion Couthouy Smith

E come from the war-swept valleys,

Where the strong ranks clash in might,
Where the broken rear-guard rallies

For its last and losing fight;

From the roaring streets and highways,
Where the mad crowds move abreast,
We come to the wooded byways,
To cover our grief, and rest.

When we hear the plaudits thunder,
And thrill to the victors' shout,
We envy them not, nor wonder
At the fate that cast us out;

For we heed one music only,

The sweet, far Voice that calls
To the dauntless soul and lonely
Who fights to the end, and falls.

We come outworn and weary-
The unnamed host of life;
Long was our march and dreary,
Fruitless and long our strife.
Out from the dust and the riot-
From the lost. yet glorious quest,
We come to the vales of quiet,
To cover our grief, and rest.

-MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small]

Pick Cotton by Machinery

By D. A. Willey

NE of the great drawbacks in gathering the world's cotton crop has been the apparent necessity of picking it entirely by hand. labor, for the reason that the cotton does not mature simultaneously. The harvest-time in a single field in the Southern States, for example, may extend over a period of two or three weeks between the time when the contents of the first bolls are gathered and the last of the cotton has been secured. It has been supposed that no machine which could be invented would gather the contents of the bolls at one operation, without mixing the mature with the immature staple.

It is a fact, however, that a machine has just been designed, which promises to revolutionize the cotton industry, not only in America but throughout the world. The machine is not entirely mechanical, for its picking arms must be guided by hand, but they do the work much more rapidly than the most expert human fingers. The most noticeable feature of the mechanism is the series of tubes projecting from the front and rear, which are connected with long bags suspended above the wheels-these bags being the receptacle for the cotton. Tubes are connected with the picking arms proper, serving as conduits in putting the cotton into the bags.

The teeth attached to the belt are of such size and shape that they readily engage the contents of the cotton boll, and remove it almost entirely without coming in contact with the shell, so that little foreign matter is taken up in the picking, and this is prevented from entering the conduits by special contrivances. There are seats provided on the machine to carry four operators, and each operator controls two of the picking arms. The arrangements of seats and picking

arms is such that, as the machine travels once down the field, all of one row and one-half of the row on each side of the center row-in all, equal to two rowsare picked. When the machine turns to travel over the field in the opposite direction, one row is skipped; this enables the operator on the outside rows to pick the other side of their respective rows.

The picking device includes a hollow, right-angled elbow hinged to the extension tubing, one end of which points in toward the body of the machine, the other end pointing outward at right angles. To this end is secured an extension tubing, to the free end of which is fastened, for rocking movement, a blower casing, provided with a fan, which serves the double purpose of doffing or fanning the cotton and blowing the same to the receptacle. To the blower casing is hinged the picking arm, which consists of a trough-like casing, having pulleys at each end, over which travels an endless belt provided with prongs or teeth. The upper or drive pulley is so arranged, with respect to the fan or doffer, that the blades just escape hitting the teeth of the belt.

A fixed, hollow elbow is secured to the extension tubing in such manner as to permit the free end of the rocking elbow to extend into one end. From the free end of this elbow is a sheet-iron pipe extending upward and into the mouth of the bag provided to receive the cotton.

The means for moving the picker belts and doffer fan consists of a light shaft, running longitudinally of the machine and parallel to the fore-and-aft extension tubing. This shaft is connected to the engine through the medium of gears and friction clutch. This shaft has a constant

speed, being independent of the speed of advance of the machine through the field. Power is applied to the picker belt and doffer fan from this shaft, through an

[graphic][merged small]

arrangement of light sprocket-wheels and chains. Simple contrivances. are arranged at the picking point and in the path of the picking belt, to facilitate the engagement of the cotton with the teeth of the belt and eliminate all foreign matter such as hulls, leaves, twigs, sand, etc.

As the machine advances along the rows of plants in the field, each operator grasps one of the picker arms in each hand, and applies the picking end to the open bolls on the plant. The cotton is instantly withdrawn from the bolls, and is rapidly carried up the arm by the belt to the doffer fan, which strips it from the teeth of the belt and at the same time blows it through the piping and delivers it into the bags.

The machine, which was invented by Mr. George A. Lowry, is propelled by a gasoline engine, which also drives the mechanism moving the picker arms. These are easily manipulated by boys, so that the cost of operating the mechanism is small in comparison with ordinary

labor. The capacity of the machine, of course, depends largely upon the number of bolls which are mature. If the cotton has ripened uniformly in a field, the machine will of course pick much more in a given time; but trials already made in the Southern States prove beyond question that this mechanical harvester reduces the cost of labor over fifty per cent. and is equal to a large number of expert cotton gatherers. It may be added that the staple is not torn or otherwise injured in being gathered from the boll mechanically; in fact, its condition is better than when hand-picked, owing to the carelessness of so many of the negroes.

There is no question but that the area of soil suitable for cotton fields in the Southern States alone is at least three times the acreage now under cultivation. It is estimated that the State of Texas, alone, could produce annually five million, instead of three million bales, if facilities were afforded for gathering the crop.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed]
[blocks in formation]

wide, with a height between floor and roof of ten feet. Opening the front-door of this house on wheels the visitors enter the living room, which is large enough to contain Mrs. Washington's sewing-machine and a folding-bed, to say nothing of comfortable chairs and other furniture.

The dining room, which opens off from the living room, is fitted with a folding table and the necessary chairs. In the kitchen, at the rear of the house-auto, is a small cook stove, a refrigerator or storage chest, in which provisions may be kept cool without the use of ice, a work table and other culinary appliances.

[graphic]

MR. GEORGE WASHINGTON, HIS WIFE AND THEIR NEW HOUSE-AUTO.

« PreviousContinue »