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  • Memory Lane

    Been off the site for a couple of weeks. Went down to Florida to get some sand in my shoes - no - actually the wife and I went to SpringHill, Fl to our grandson's 3rd birthday. Had a great trip and on the way back, in south/central Georgia, we started seeing cotton fields. Thought I'd share a couple of pics as there actually may be members who have never seen raw cotton.

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    Sorry about the quality of photos but they were taken from a moving truck with an Iphone. But - - -

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    This is what the cotton boll looks like up close. Each of those little section, which is actually one cotton boll, contains 3 or 4 cotton seeds which are processed for cottonseed oil, while the cotton itself if processed into thread and material for clothing as ya'll know. Anywho - I remember my Mom telling me that she used to pick this stuff when she was a little girl to make enough money for shoes and new clothes for school. Mom was the 2nd of 14 kids and if they were old enough to drag a bag, they worked the fields. She said that at the end of the day, their fingers would be cut and bloody from getting stuck on the sharp points of the bolls. Can you imagine today's kids picking cotton for school clothes??? Anyway just thought I'd share this with ya'll.
    Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-

  • #2
    I love this, and the pics. Thanks for sharing. I grew up in cotton fields, my dad and all his siblings picked for my Grandpa, until they got a mechanical cotton picker.

    cool cotton fact, the more seeds it has, the higher the “grade”of cotton. The gin separates the seed from the fibers, then separates the lint from the seeds, and the seed lint is used for the softest things. I’ve worked in a cotton gin(actually, several) and a cotton seed oil mill both in my younger days. Dangerous places to be.

    thanks agin for sharing this. It makes me homesick this time of year.
    ❤️
    Wandering wherever I can, mostly in Eastern Arkansas, always looking down.

    Comment


    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Hey Jethro - I always wondered about the seeds and how they get separated from the cotton. I know in the early history, Tn, especially over by Memphis, was one of the largest cotton producers around. Appreciate your added info.

  • #3
    A few years ago some soybean fields in NE NC were changed over to cotton for two seasons. As we drove down to the Outer Banks it was a rare treat to see cotton growing that far north. It does deplete the soil so now the farmers are growing flax. Thanks for the memory...
    Child of the tides

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    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Hey Deb - I've heard that cotton was hard on the soil. I'd imagine they have to rotate crops often. Thanks for commenting.

  • #4
    Awesome pics and thank u for sharing .... hope that baby’s birthday was a good one .....
    As for me and my house , we will serve the lord

    Everett Williams ,
    NW Arkansas

    Comment


    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Hey G10+ - That boy has more toys than I have hair on my head. You'd never know he was just 3 yrs old. We had a good time and He had a super party .

  • #5
    Thanks for sharing Chuck!
    South Dakota

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    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      My pleasure - Gary.

  • #6
    Thanks for sharing Chuck we missed you. Glad you had a nice trip.
    TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post

    Comment


    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      It's always good to be missed, Hoss. It was a good trip but with the temps and humidity in the mid-90's - I was really glad to get back to my mountain here in good ole Tn.

  • #7
    Welcome back Chuck. Glad you had a good vacation from retirement. Cotton is at the same stage here where I live. Not quite ready to pick yet. The local peanut growers have been harvesting those for the past couple of weeks or so. Lots of peanuts here in LA. That is Lower Alabama the little tip in the southwest that borders the Gulf of Mexico. South Alabama is north of LA.

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    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Hey Sailor - I'd like to see how they harvest peanuts. I know they grow below ground, kinda like potatoes but have never seen them being brought in. In fact, I can't recall having seen the peanut plant. Also appreciate the geography lesson. I remembered when I was traveling through that area, near Mobile and over toward Biloxi, Ms., it was like being in a different world, especially the accents and it gets worse over in Louisiana. Thanks for commenting.

  • #8
    Hey Chuck, nice pic's!
    http://joshinmo.weebly.com

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    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks Josh.

  • #9
    Great Pictures Chuck. It brings back great memories of mine. I grew up with access to a large cotton farm in Orangeburg SC where I learned to hunt. Just wish I was into artifacts back then 3000 acres of plowed fields next to the Edisto river didn't even think about it? Thanks for showing!
    N.C. from the mountains to the sea

    Comment


    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Wow - any of us would have been on hog heaven to have 3000 acres of plowed fields to hunt. But I imagine we all wish we'd have been more attentive to this hobby when we were younger.

  • #10
    KILLER SITES near Spring Hill...... Just sayin'...!~~~~!!
    Professor Shellman
    Tampa Bay

    Comment


    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Tom - the thought actually crossed my mind but other than my son living there, I really didn't know anyone to get permission from. If I had, believe me, I'd have put in some time hunting. I actually got my start when I was working in a 50 acre cemetery as Sexton/manager. I accompanied the grave diggers to be sure they were digging in the right area and I usually stayed and watched as the dirt came out of the hole and got piled up. We had a waste dirt pile where we put the dirt that was displaced by the vault and that waste pile is where I looked for artifacts. Actually found lots of chips/flakes and scrapers, just no points.
      Last edited by Scorpion68; 10-18-2017, 03:20 PM. Reason: addit comment

  • #11
    Thanks for the road trip, always enjoy. Kind of like watching Nat. Geo.!
    Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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    • Scorpion68
      Scorpion68 commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the comment Greg.

  • #12
    That area around the river is the best soil in North America. All the way down to northern Louisiana, where it gets too wet to grow, on both sides really.

    The gins use a series of "saw blades" they are really fine toothed and very close together on a spindle, maybe 8-10 feet long, and 12-16" diameter, and then encased in a sort of tubular housing where the seeds drop in one side, bounce off the saws, and the lint is pulled off the saws and sent one way by relatively low pressure suction, and the "clean" seeds are dropped out and sent another way.


    i remember when I was a youngster, going with my grandpa to sell cotton contracts to the cotton merchants on Front Street in Memphis, right off the river. We would take a bale or two to be graded and weighed, then they would offer a price, he would dicker with them, they would settle, and shake hands...and that was that. There would be bales of cotton sitting everywhere....it was a beautiful site. The merchant was a Jewish fellow..I can't remember his name, but I want to say it was Solomon....
    Wandering wherever I can, mostly in Eastern Arkansas, always looking down.

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    • #13
      Great thread Chuck. Welcome back.

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      • Scorpion68
        Scorpion68 commented
        Editing a comment
        Appreciate ya Hi-Lo

    • #14
      Chuck , I saw cotton fields for the first time when I went with Wayne to hunt in Georgia . They are beautiful .. thanks for thise beautiful pics and the thread because now I have all this information about this wonderful little plant. Next time you pick up a cotton ball you will have a different mind set right ?
      Jethro thank you for that man I am the cotton master now .
      Chuck all these guys on utube find points in those fields so I am just going to pull over and walk the road . One day I will walk up to the farm house and ask . There is a corn field down from the cabin as well .
      Just lovley and sounds like you had a great vacation .

      Comment


      • Scorpion68
        Scorpion68 commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks Tam - Yup we had a really good break from the humdrum mountain life but were oooohhhhh so glad to get home.
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