Textile Manufacture 
 
 
  There are many varieties of the cotton-plant. The value 
of the fibre depends somewhat on the variety, but the de- 
sirable qualities-color, length, strength, smoothness, fiile- 
ness, pliability, and uniformity-are greatly affected by the 
cilmate, soil, and cultivation. 
  i. , ield Picking.-Cotton must be picked as soon as it 
is ripe. The picking is done both by hand and by ma- 
chine, and an effort is made to pick only the ripe fibres, 
as the presence of the unripe injuriously affects the char- 
acter of the whole. It is a tedious operation and often 
badly done because of the great number of people required 
for the work and the consequent necessity of employing 
unskilled labor. 
  2. Weighing. Cotton is weighed after the picking. 
About two-thirds of its weight is due to the seed which is 
still attached to the fibre. 
  3. Ginning. Ginning is the next process; it separates 
the seed and the fibre. There are two general kinds of 
gins-the roller-gin, which seems to have developed from 
primitive methods and is now used chiefly for long-staple 
cottons, and the saw-gin, which was invented by Eli 
Whitney and is more generally used but often tears and 
injures the fibre. In the roller-gins the seed is removed by 
passing the fibre over a roller against the surface of which 
a kind of knife operates and separates seed and fibre. In 
the saw-gin revolving circular saws separate fibre and seed 
by pulling the fibre from the receiving hopper through a 
grating which is too fine for the seeds. If the cotton is 
fed into this hopper too rapidly, knots, or neps, will re- 
sult and interfere later with the spinning process. 
  4. Baling. -From the gin the cotton is carried to a con- 
denser and then baled. In this process it is subjected to 
pressure, covered with jute or some similar material, and 
bound with metal bands. Before transportation the bale 
is usually subjected to more and greater pressure in the cot- 
ton compress. This makes it the required size for shipping, 
but does not improve its, appearance, as the covering often 
bursts in many places. 
  These processes picking, ginning, and baling     might 
 
 
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