Originally Posted by
debs
Great to see the photos! We have the same around here and its always easy to know when the cotton is being picked as it falls off the trucks and covers the sides of the roads with loose cotton, each year I always up some, not sure why just because it is so neat! This year we've noticed that the farmers aroud us are baling it in round bales instead of the loaf bales that fit in those special trucks. Need to find a farmer & ask why they have changed how they are baling.
We also have a canvas bag that is ten feet long that the laborers used to hand pick the cotton. Had a shoulder strap to drag behind them on the ground between rows. When it was full they would go pick more. Now the machines do it and lots less sore fingers from when it was done by hand.
Boy does this bring back memories. I am from Fresno California and man did I pick a lot of cotton. Hard messy work and I used to think that the canvas bag was never going to fill up. You also have to contend with spiders. Always had scratchers all over my hands. Thanks for sharing. BrendaK