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GINNERS MARKETPLACE
COTTON Ginners Marketplace
COTTON FARMING IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GINNING INDUSTRY.
Cotton Gins — The Early Days
The cotton gin’s invention served as the first test of the newly created U.S. patent system. The technical problems of Eli Whitney’s design led to almost immediate modifications that were put into place by other farmers and inventors. The wire teeth on the revolving cylinder, for example, were quickly replaced by a series of circular saws.
The origins of the modification are foggy, but as more gins with these saws were distributed, Whitney claimed that their design was an obvious variation of his own, and thus covered under his patent. Though the courts ruled in Whitney’s favor, countless legal battles ensued due to the shaky nature of Whitney’s patent.
Initial Plans To Operate Gins
Whitney and Phineas Miller, his business partner, had originally decided to produce a large number of gins, install them throughout Georgia and the South, and charge farmers a fee for using the gins. Farmers throughout Georgia resented having to pay what they felt was an exorbitant tax and opted instead to make their own variations of Whitney’s design.
Miller brought lawsuits against the makers of these lifted versions, but because of a loophole in the wording of the 1793 patent act, he and Whitney were unable to win any suits until 1802. In a desperate e ort to make a profit, Whitney and Miller began selling licenses to manufacture the gin, but they failed to make a large return by the time Whitney’s patent expired in 1807.
Though most evidence indicates that Whitney was the sole inventor of the cotton gin, many historians believe he was either aided or preceded by another in the design and invention of the machine. The most widely circulated claim to the invention of the cotton gin has been argued on behalf of Catharine Greene, Whitney’s hostess while in Georgia.
Greene was deeply interested in the solution to the mechanical problems presented by the processing of short-staple cotton, and many have contended that she aided Whitney in the gin’s creation but avoided the connection of her name to the invention. Other historians have credited Hogden Holmes, a Scottish immigrant; Robert Watkins, an Augusta businessman and attorney; and William Longstreet, inventor of the precursor to the sewing machine, with the saws that made the gin a profitable success. All three of these men were issued patents for improvements to the cotton gin by 1796. Most evidence indicates, however, that Whitney did invent the saw gin.
Later Developments
During the 1820s, the first successful cotton gin factories appeared. Before the Civil War (1861-65), the cotton gins they produced were sold primarily to farmers, who would install them on their property and use them to gin their own cotton. After the Civil War, however, farmers were more likely to take their seeded cotton to a ginner, who would remove the seeds for a fee in a method called “custom ginning.”
The factory setting of custom ginning demanded e iciency during the whole ginning process, rather than just of the gin itself, and innovations in ginning began to focus more on the quantity and speed with which these factories could process cotton.
In the mid-1880s Robert Munger of Texas developed “system ginning,” a process by which seeded cotton was fed continuously into multiple gins stands, from which the fiber was immediately pressed and baled. Munger’s system e ectively ended the era of plantation gins and small cotton-gin makers and merchants.
The modern cotton ginning process has continued in Georgia and the Southeast and can also be found in the major cotton producing areas of the southwestern United States and overseas. Cottonseed oil, one of the by-products of cotton production, is commonly used in potato chips and other processed foods. Some consumers are wary of cottonseed oil in foods, as it contains highly toxic gossypol, and is taken from one of the most chemically intensive crops grown in the United States.
Today, only a few technologically sophisticated firms produce cotton gins based on the designs of specialized engineers. The largest of those companies, the Lummus Corp., located in Savannah, Georgia, has brought short-staple cotton production back to its roots at Mulberry Grove.
James Marion Prance, the proprietor of a cotton gin in Cobb County, Georgia, sits in front of cotton bales in the early 1900s.
This excerpted article, “Cotton Gins,” was authored by Elizabeth Hargrett, New Georgia Encyclopedia.
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An Invitation To Take ‘Your Turn’
All of us at Cotton Farming would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the My Turn column through the years. Many of our readers have told us it’s one of their favorite pages in the magazine. As we embark on a new year, we pause to reflect on last year’s submissions and invite more members of our “cotton family” to tell us their stories. Here are some memorable excerpts from 2022.
January 2022, Cindy Faulkner: “Peanut was 100% house cat, not a barn cat. I took her up the steps of the picker on my shoulder. Then she jumped off and walked over to the door waiting for me to get up the ladder to let her in. The rest is history. She has picked cotton with me for 16 consecutive years.”
February 2022, Eric Best: “I think the challenges of working with cotton in West Texas provided me with an understanding not only of how demanding the crop can be, but also how durable and resilient the growers are. Twenty-five years professionally involved in cotton have been humbling.”
March 2022, Janice Smith: “So, Fred and Sandra had just finished eating a big, hard green peach. They nonchalantly wandered back to the front porch, doing a little eavesdropping as they went. That’s when they heard Uncle Will say, ‘Walter, did you hear about the children who died from eating green peaches?’ Two sets of ears perked straight up, and two hearts skipped a beat.”
April 2022, Dorothy Young: “Guess I better tell you my bestest crop consultant that I have been talking about is Ray Young from Wisner, Louisiana. Come see us. We’d love to feed you country cooking and talk about crop consulting and raising crops on this wonderful land God has entrusted to us.”
May 2022, Neil Joiner: “Wind, rain and house-shaking rumbles of thunder came with that ominous cloud, but late in the day a waning sun peeked through the ethereal quietness that sometimes follows a storm. Delicate fingers of light brushed soft pastels onto a canvas of tranquility.”
June 2022, Anne Boyd: “And, before I could think of what I wanted to say, I looked around at some of the photographs and memorabilia in my cotton-filled house and thought I would want to include a lot about how cotton has been a major part of my life.”
July 2022, Guy Collins: “I can remember packing cotton in trailers for friends whose fathers grew it. I can also remember when the first module builders showed up. If I remember right, a new one cost between $30,000 to $40,000. My grandfather thought it would be hard for anyone to justify the cost of such a luxury. That’s laughable now.”
August 2022, Vern Crawford: “Driving a car is an integrated endeavor requiring multiple skills, a lifetime of learning, a few hiccups along the way and always the frustration of never getting where you want to go fast enough. It’s almost like Integrated Pest Management.”
September 2022, Steve M. Brown: “Remember the old Maytag washing machine commercials? Because Maytag products were so reliable, they never broke down; consequently, no one ever needed or called the repairman. The worst thing for an Extension professional is to be irrelevant. Not needed. Never called.”
October 2022, Neil Joiner: “I had not mentioned two things for which he is well known — fishing and hunting. Many of us have tales about the ones that got away. William’s stories are about the ones that didn’t.”
November 2022, Dean Fisher: “There was much debate as to whether cloth or paper was better for baby, and also what was best for the environment. We opted for cloth diapers, using a service that picked up, washed at 190° F, and then delivered — still preferring cotton.”
December 2022, Ron Smith: “One of our county agents organized a cotton-picking field day with the local schools. I was the guest speaker and prepared a set of ‘How to hand pick cotton’ rules for the occasion.”
To read these My Turn columns in their entirety, go to www.cottonfarming.com and click on Departments. To submit a My Turn column, please contact Carroll Smith at csmith@onegrower.com or 901-326-4443. We look forward to hearing from you!
– Carroll Smith Editor, Cotton Farming
Cotton Farming’s back page is devoted to telling unusual “farm tales” or timely stories from across the Cotton Belt. Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got an interesting story to tell, send a short summary to csmith@onegrower.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
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