Pampered Tian's Wife: The Little Weaver Girl in the Farmhouse

Chapter 292 The Cotton Gin

Two merchant ships brought back four thousand catties of seed cotton, and of course they also brought back a lot of overseas treasures.Of course, Qing Lei's stay in Haining Prefecture is not just as simple as protecting Qiaoyun. Qing Lei is responsible for all affairs here.When Yue Rong could not be seen, Qing Lei returned to his shrewd and capable appearance, handling all affairs very well.

Four thousand catties of seed cotton were shipped directly to the warehouse in the mansion. Qiao Yun couldn't wait to get some samples over. She wanted to take a good look at the hard-won cotton.

Sure enough, it was a little different from what I imagined.Today's cotton flowers are smaller, the fibers do not look as long as in previous lives, and the color is slightly yellowish.Even so, Qiao Yun was very happy.Cotton itself is also inherently variable. Slowly cultivate and select, you can cultivate the desired quality. This cannot be rushed, and it needs to be done step by step.

All the returned cotton is seed cotton, that is to say, the cotton seeds are all wrapped in the cotton flowers, and the cotton seeds and cotton wool must be separated before the next step can be carried out.The reason why we buy seed cotton instead of pure cotton seed is that we don’t catch up with the time.Qiaoyun knew it when she was in Siam, and the locals still peel it off bit by bit by hand, which is too time-consuming.

Of course, there is another reason, that is, I am afraid that the recovered seeds are from last year.I dare not say such things, so Qiaoyun asked at that time that the newly picked seed cotton must be collected this year, and it is best to go directly to the field to collect it.

Generally speaking, about ten catties of seed cotton can produce three catties of lint cotton, which is completely processed cotton.Calculated in this way, four thousand catties of seed cotton can produce about two thousand seven or eight hundred catties of cottonseed.About seven or eight catties of cottonseed are needed for one mu of land. After removing some damaged or unfulfilled cottonseeds, the remaining cottonseeds are more than enough to plant more than 100 mu of land.

When she was in Siam, Qiaoyun didn't say she wanted to buy so much, but when the locals heard that someone was buying seed cotton, many people flocked to sell it, and the result was too much.Fortunately, the purchase price was not too high. To Qiaoyun, an extra one or two thousand catties was nothing.

Seed cotton removes the cottonseed, and the rest is called lint, which is commonly known as cotton.The remaining cotton is not too little, Qiaoyun plans to keep half of it for bedding, and the other half for everyone to practice.Picking cotton, ginning, spinning, etc., these things take time to practice.

This cotton has never appeared in Daliao, unlike silk, those girls have seen it more or less, so it needs to be trained in advance.

As soon as she returned to Daliao, Qiaoyun asked someone to find a master carpenter, and made a whole set of machines according to the drawings she drew.Now that the cotton has arrived, the next step is naturally to be processed.

"Starting tomorrow, everyone stop what you're doing, and let's get this cotton together. This is a new item, and it's waiting to be finished. This winter, I'll give each of you a cotton coat. Next year, we'll grow cotton ourselves. When we plant more in the future, everyone will be able to wear cotton padded clothes." Qiao Yun said to the girls with a smile while holding the white floc in her hand.

Those girls were also quite curious about the things in Qiaoyun's hands, and they happened to have nothing else to do at the moment, so they all gathered around Qiaoyun, chattering and asking various questions.Qiaoyun didn't bother her, so she explained to them bit by bit, and at the same time, basically explained the cotton processing process.

The next day, Qiaoyun really started to lead the girls to gin cotton.

Cotton fibers are grown from cottonseeds, and to use those fibers, the cottonseeds must be separated from the fibers.The process of rolling fibers from the seeds of seed cotton is called ginning or ginning.

At the beginning, people used their hands to peel off the cotton seeds one by one.But this kind of efficiency is too slow, and then someone finds a way to place the cotton on a flat wooden or slate board, roll it on it with a pressing roller, and use the friction between the pressing roller and the pressing plate to separate the cottonseed and fiber. separate.

But this method is not very fast, and then someone changed the pressure plate and the pressure roller into two pressure rollers, one large and one small, one of which rotates slowly and the other rotates faster.The two pressure rollers are linked by rollers or gears, so that as long as someone shakes the handle, the cottonseed and fiber can be easily separated.

However, this kind of handle needs to be shaken by hand, and on the other hand, it is impossible to continuously put seed cotton into it.Therefore, people improved the cotton gin again and turned it into a pedal type.Step on the pedal with your feet, and use the linkage effect of the rollers to drive the rotation of the pressure roller, and your hands can be freed to continuously put seed cotton into the machine.

After the steam engine and electricity came into existence, the machinery continued to reform and develop, and the cotton gin was also updated and improved.Of course, in Qiaoyun's age, none of these things existed. Qiaoyun could only design a foot-operated cotton gin, which was already very efficient.

Qiaoyun sat on the stool, asked someone to pile up the seed cotton at the feeding port, and then stepped on the pedal hard.Then I saw that the rollers drove the two pressure rollers inside the wooden box. The seed cotton went in from the feed port and came out from the discharge port. The cotton seeds fell from the bottom of the wooden box and fell directly into the pocket below. inside.

"This is very simple, as long as the hands and feet are well coordinated, put the seed cotton in and step on the pedal at the same time. Come on, you all come over and try it." Qiao Yun tried it out, and felt that the pedal cotton gin was still good. Okay, after a little demonstration, let those girls come forward to experiment one by one.

The girls are all ingenious, and the operation of the cotton gin is really not very difficult. After practicing for a while, they basically mastered the skills.Therefore, Qiaoyun assigned the people to several cotton gins and asked them to work individually.

"The girl is really amazing. This method of using both feet and hands and feet saves a lot of time." Yue Rong took it for granted, watching the girls fiddle with the machine one by one with great interest, and the white cotton is discharged from the material. Yue Rong also felt that it was very fresh.

"There will be more fun in the future. This is the first step, and then there are steps such as popping flowers and cotton gins. Don't worry, I will let you try to operate. Sister Yue Rong, we will have another step in the future." There will be another kind of fabric, which is softer and more absorbent than linen and Gebu, and it is more comfortable to wear." Qiaoyun is also very happy, this is what she found after a lot of hard work, seeing her dream come true soon, that kind of joy, really What is indescribable.

"Sister, hurry up, the son is here." Qiao Yun was happy, but Qing Lei hurried in from the outside and said loudly.

(End of this chapter)