Why is picking cotton hard

But I enjoyed eating lunch in the fields the most. This meant we got a rare treat for lunch. You may laugh but a bologna or potted meat sandwich and Pork N Beans and a Colawas something we rarely got when I was a kid.

And then there was the time after dinner when you could lay under a big Oak tree with a cool breeze and rest until work time.

But I was like most children, I didn't know what being tired and resting was so I joined the other kids playing until work time. From my description of the work in picking cotton I suppose you would never think of it being a romantic place to meet the opposite sex butthis happen to a lot of people.

The boys would rush to get the cotton row by a pretty girl and the amount of cotton picked depended on how much the girl could pick. If she picked a lot of cotton the boy had to work hard to keep up and stay beside her. If she was slow very little cotton was picked by either person. There was always a contest to see who could pick the most cotton by the end of the day. The owner usually was involved in getting these races started.

One such owner got my brother and me in a contest that I will never forget. He promised the winner that he could go to his apple orchard and pick all the apples that he could carry back home. I won the contest and got the privilege of gathering the apples and carrying them home.

A few years later I realized something was funny about the contest. My brother ate as many apples as I did and that was the only time I remember ever beating him in picking cotton. After filling the sacks up the cotton pickers would carry them to a truck or a wagon located in the middle of the field to be weighed and emptied. Some farmers still used mules to pull the wagons but I rarely saw this in Some times if it was a big farmer and he had a lot of hands picking cotton he would pay someone extra to empty the sacks.

When I got older I had the pleasure of making a few extra dollars this way. But most of the time the young stronger boys emptied the sacks for the women and older men because it was common courtesy and expected. Another part of the job of picking cotton I enjoyed was going to the cotton gin.

Some times a farmer would hire Daddy to deliver his load of cotton to the gin and if it was after work time he would let my brother and I go with him. It was a thrill to two young boys to ride on a load of cotton in the back of a wagon or truck. If it was after dark and the weather was cool we would burrow ourselves in the cotton to keep warm. We always had to wait in a long line and this gave us the opportunity to play with the other boys waiting in line to unload their cotton.

About two months after planting, flower buds called squares appear on the cotton plants. In another three weeks, the blossoms open. Their petals change from creamy white to yellow, then pink and finally, dark red. After three days, they wither and fall, leaving green pods which are called cotton bolls. Inside the boll, which is shaped like a tiny football, moist fibers grow and push out from the newly formed seeds. As the boll ripens, it turns brown. The fibers continue to expand under the warm sun.

Finally, they split the boll apart and the fluffy cotton bursts forth. It looks like white cotton candy. Picking cotton is hard on your fingers, to say the least. Be sure to wear a sturdy pair of gloves! Traditionally, a picker carries a big bag that ends up weighing as much as 70 pounds by the end of a long day of picking. The time of year for cotton harvest varies depending on your location. Cotton is planted and harvested all around the world.

It goes without saying, the harvest dates will differ greatly between India, Australia, New Zealand and the US, to name a few. In the southern United States, harvest typically begins in July and is completed during the hot summer months. In the northern states, where it may take longer for cotton to mature , harvest may be extended into the autumn months.

Be sure to use sunscreen as well. Work your way down the row of cotton plants picking the cotton from the bolls by grasping the cotton at its base and giving it a twist. Not all of the cotton bolls will be ready at once. Be careful only to pick the ones that are completely open. Spread the cotton out on a clean surface to dry. You can use your homegrown cotton to spin fiber for weaving or simply to stuff pillows, toys and the like.