Now I'm not an expert on how these things work, but my general understanding is that the machine is driven up and down the rows and the fluffy cotton is sucked up through the hose that's visible in the above picture. The collected cotton is deposited in the large bin, being packed tightly as it is collected.
The next stop for the cotton is a gin, where the cotton is processed to remove seeds, boles and any debris. Again, the cotton is packed into tight bales and shipped to a cotton market where it is sold.
When I was a child all cotton, around here at least, was picked by hand. Each person was paid by the amount he or she picked that day. Pickers filled a sack each pulled behind him or her down long rows. When filled, the cotton was weighed on a pully-type scale, with the amount each picker picked duly recorded in a notebook. Sacks were emptied into a wagon or trailer, the empty sack returned to the picker and the process was repeated until almost nightfall. The next day you started all over again. (Kids prayed for rain every night because you couldn't pick cotton in a wet field.)
When the wagon was full, it was pulled by a tractor or truck to a local gin, just as it still is today.
The farmer, both then and now, are paid by the amount the bale weighs and whatever the going price is for cotton that year.
Like everything else, farming has changed. Cotton farming is done on a large scale these days with machinery that costs thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. For any of us who ever picked cotton by hand, this is a welcome change. Maybe we wanted or needed to earn enough money to spend at the county fair or buy our new fall school clothes, but it was tough work.
Cotton farming has changed, but other things have not. For instance, Nandina berries still turn from green to orange in autumn and their beauty makes your heart skip a beat:
The majestic Maple tree still tries to outdo all her neighbors:
The luscious hot-pink seed pod of the Southern Magnolia still beckons one to come closer for a better look:
And the sun setting in the western sky still tells us it's time to rest from our labors, whatever and however different they may be from times of yore.
I hope everyone reading this has had a great day.
I have seen old film of hand-picking of cotton, which looks like very hard work. Hurrah for modern methods. Love your photos of nature in Autumn: so beautiful. My favourite season. Have a lovely weekend!
ReplyDeleteMine too, Patricia. Picking by hand was hard work indeed! We are getting our first cool night; first frost predicted next week. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
DeleteHello Sanda
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about cotton picking. I am fascinated by cotton and when in Ireland we stopped by a bog and the wild bog cotton was blooming.
The Southern Magnolia seed pod, I have seen, but did not know what it was. Thanks for enlightening me.
Helenx
Hi Helen,
DeleteNow you'll have to educate me on what wild bog cotton is! Those Magnolia seed pods are just beautiful; eventually they turn brown and I have seen them used painted gold and piled in a bowl as a Christmas decoration. Quite beautiful.
Thank you for such an interesting post on cotton picking,what a wonderful sight it must be to see all that acreages of cotton growing.
ReplyDeleteAs I cannot wear wool,much of my clothing is cotton,sound ignorant but have never thought much about where it grew!
The seed pod reminds me of small bananas. Ida
The cotton fields are quite beautiful. They are so bright and light it looks like snow on the ground from a distance. I don't know if birds eat the red seeds or not. Everything about the Southern Magnolia is fantastic: the broad and thick evergreen leaves; the creamy white blooms which are oh so fragrant; and those gorgeous pink seed pods.
DeleteCotton picking has changed much like hay harvesting. The big machines indeed are expensive, and special skills are needed in operating them. Even our own tractor is so complicated, that I would not dare to drive it.
ReplyDeleteSo, when it will be winter there- how cold will it be?
By mid-November we should have some coldish weather. First frost date is usually 3rd week of Oct. but we haven't had it yet. We do get nights in the 20s (F.) in December and has been known to get into teens or lower in January if we have an unusually cold winter. But the days usually warm up with sunshine. It's a lot of "up and down" on the thermometer. Last winter was unusually mild.
DeleteI had not seen the cotton picking machine. Cotton plants are my favorite and although I am sure it is a hell of a job picking cotton yet it must be also wonderful standing in a cotton field. It is an amazing plant. I see autumn is shaping beautifully around you. Enjoy and thank you for the lovely photos. Wishing you a beautiful autumn weekend from us three here.
ReplyDeleteFields are indeed beautiful. Love autumn. And a great weekend to you and the cat boys.
DeleteHarvesting things has changed so much during my lifetime. We didn't grow cotton where I was raised but there were bean fields or hop fields everywhere and most teen (including me) earned money by picking something or another all summer.
ReplyDeleteDarla
Those were the days! It taught us where money came from and I think we are better off that we learned those lessons at an early age -- by earning our own money, albeit by the sweat of our brows.
DeleteThe cotton fields are so beautiful but how I hated working in them - the burrs were SO bad on nail cuticles and how sore they would be to the point of bleeding! It was either blazing hot in the field or as fall progressed, freezing cold. Still love to look at the white fields though. The nandinas and magonlia are so, so pretty and make such beautiful decorations for the holidays. Great story.
ReplyDeleteOh, don't remind me! I can still smell those cotton fields and way it smelled around the truck or wagon that held the picked cotton. I wish I had one of those old scales used to weigh it, or a cotton (picking) sack.
DeleteWas picking cotton a better paying job than Baby sitting? It sounds just terrible.
ReplyDeleteI never babysat. Only young girls in town had that opportunity. I believe they made fifty cents/hour. Out here in the country no one required the services of a babysitter. On the rare occasion parents needed that service, they simply dropped the kids off with grandma or another willing family member, usually an aunt. Close knit community consisting largely of relatives!
DeleteAs far as the pay for picking cotton, I recall we were paid $3 or $3.50 (first picking) and the price rose incrementally with 2nd and 3rd picking ($4/second picking; $4.50-5.00 third). Now a young teenager could usually expect to pick 150 lbs/day max on a good day. So I believe you could earn more but had to work harder. Around here, you not only picked because you needed and wanted the money, but you wanted to help the farmers get the crop gathered as quickly as possible before bad weather set in.