his while to
transport it. Moreover, it would be bothersome to handle when it
arrived at the spinning mills. Therefore before cotton is shipped it
has to be reduced in bulk so that it will not take up so much space."

"But how can it be, Uncle Frederick? asked Mary, open-eyed.

"What do you do when you wish to make some soft material into a small
parcel, my dear?"

"Oh, roll it up--squeeze it together," was the instant response.

"Well, there you have your answer!" responded Uncle Frederick. "Balers
treat cotton lint in the same fashion; only, as they are not strong
enough to accomplish this end with their hands, they resort to powerful
machines, or compressors, to carry out the process for them. By means
of enormous pressure they crush down the billowing lint until four feet
of it can be reduced to a thickness of not more than seven inches."

"I wouldn't want to fall into that machine! chuckled Carl.

"There wouldn't be much left of you if you should, I can assure you of
that," Captain Dillingham said. "Cotton, however, does not raise any
such protest. It is pressed and pressed and pressed, and while still in
the presses iron bands are put round it to hold it so it can be
compactly transported. An American bale of some five hundred pounds
will usually have six or seven of these iron bands round it. Certain of
these bales are merely rough ones; others are cylindrical. I believe
the latter sort are more generally preferred. To make them the cotton
is gradually pressed and rolled by powerful presses until a bale four
feet long and about two feet through is obtained. These cylindrical
bales weigh a trifle less than the others--about four hundred and
twenty-six pounds--and because they have been pressed so hard they keep
in place without either iron bands or cloth covers. When they arrive at
the mills the cotton from them can be unrolled and much more easily fed
into the machines. If they are covered it is merely to keep them
clean."

"Do all bales of cotton have to weigh the same?" inquired Carl.

"You mean is there a standardized weight for all bales?"

"Yes."

"No, there is no universal standard for bales of cotton. The bales from
different countries differ quite considerably. For example a Brazilian
bale usually weighs only from a hundred and seventy-five to two hundred
and twenty pounds; the Turkish from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred and twenty-five pounds; those coming from India do better,
avera