owever, an additional reason why cotton from various bales
should be blended together in order to secure uniformity.

A cotton "mixing" may be described as a kind of "stack," resembling
somewhat the haystack of the farm yards.

The method usually pursued in making this mixing is somewhat as
follows:--A portion of cotton from a certain bale is taken off and
spread over a given area of floor space. Then a similar portion from
another bale is placed over the first layer already lying on the floor.

The same operation is followed with a third and fourth layer from
different bales, and so on with as many bales as the management consider
there are variations in quality, the larger the mixing the better for
securing uniformity of yarn.

When it is desired to use the cotton, it should be pulled down
vertically from the face of the "mixing," so as to secure a fair portion
from each bale composing the mixture. Before spreading the cotton out it
is usually pulled into pieces of moderate size by the hands of the
operative.

During recent years it has become the very general practice to use a
small machine called the "Bale Breaker" or "Cotton Puller," and to have
also working in conjunction with this machine long travelling "lattices"
called "mixing lattices." These perform the operation of "pulling" and
"mixing" the cotton much more quickly and effectively than by hand
labour.

The "Cotton Puller" or "Bale Breaker" (see Fig. 12) simply consists, in
its most useful form, of four pairs of coarsely fluted or spiked
rollers of about 6 inches diameter with a feed apron or lattice such as
is shown in the illustration.

Image: FIG. 12.--Bale breaker or puller.

The method adopted with the "Bale Breaker" and "mixing lattices" in use
is as follows:--

The various bales of cotton intended for "mixing" are placed very near
to the feed apron of the Bale Breaker, and a layer from each bale in
succession is placed on the apron. The latter feeds the cotton at a slow
rate to the revolving rollers of the machine, and as each pair of top
and bottom rollers that the cotton meets is revolving more rapidly than
the preceding pair, the result is a pulling asunder of the cotton by the
rollers, into much smaller pieces, quite suitable for the next machine.
The Bale Breaker delivers the cotton upon long travelling aprons of
lattice work, which carry the cotton away and deposit it upon any
desired portion of the floor to form the "mixing."

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