e Cotton Culture in the States, says: "It
seems like very easy work to gather a material which shows itself in
such abundance as fairly to whiten the field, but let the sceptic or the
grumbler take a bag on his shoulders and start in between a couple of
rows. He will find upon taking hold of the first boll that the fibres
are quite firmly attached to the interior lining of the pod, and if he
makes a quick snatch, thinking to gather the entire lock, he will only
tear it in two, or leave considerable adhering to the pod. And yet he
may notice that an experienced picker will gather the cotton and lay his
fingers into the middle of the open pod with a certain expertness which
only practice gives, the effect of which is to clear the whole pod with
one movement of the hand."

Knowing how intensely monotonous and dreary the work of cotton picking
is, Mr. Lyman advises the planters to allow a very fair amount of
liberty so far as merrymaking is concerned, and he says on this point
that "though too much talking and singing must interfere with labour, it
is earnestly recommended to every cotton grower to take care to secure
cheerfulness if not hilarity in the field. Remember that it is a very
severe strain upon the patience and spirits of any one, to be urged to
rapid labour of precisely the same description day by day, week by week,
month by month. Let there be refreshments at the baskets, a dish of hot
coffee in a cool morning, or a pail of buttermilk in a hot afternoon, or
a tub of sweetened water, or a basket of apples."

As a rule the cotton gathered on one farm, which has, generally
speaking, had something like uniformity in method of cultivation, will
produce cotton varying very little in quality and weight.

Hence on large farms there will be something like uniform quality of
cotton produced. It will, however, be clear to the general reader that
on the small farms of India, say where sufficient cannot be gathered on
one farm, or perhaps on a few farms, to make one bale, there will not be
that uniformity which is desirable, hence Indian cotton, especially of
the poorer types, varies a great deal more than the American varieties.
When the hands have gathered sufficient to fill the carts drawn in
America usually by mules, and in India by oxen, the cotton is taken to
houses in which the seeds are separated from the fibre. This process is
called "ginning."

It is astonishing to find how tenaciously the fibres cling to the s