No. of bands. Weight in lbs.
American bale6 or 7500
Egyptian "11700
Indian "13390
Turkish "4250-325
American Cylindrical bale420-430
Brazilian175-220

Within the last few years an entirely new industry has been started in some of the Southern States of America.

Up to recently the bales sent to European countries from America were all of the same type as shown by the centre bale in [Fig. 10].

Fig. 10.—Bales from various cotton-growing countries.

Now a vast quantity of cotton is being baled in the form as shown in [Fig. 11], and what are known as cylindrical bales are being exported in large numbers. In the "Round Bale" Circular of the American Cotton Company, it is stated that from the 21st November, 1896, to January 2nd, 1897, no less than 1443 round bales were turned out of the factory at Waco in Texas. The total weight of these bales was 614,832 pounds, giving an average of 426 pounds per bale.

By means of a press the cotton is rolled into the form as shown in the illustration. The press makes a bale 4 feet long and 2 feet in diameter and weighs over 35 pounds per cubic foot or 50 per cent. denser than the bale made under the system as shown in [Fig. 10].

Fig. 11.—Cylindrical rolls of cotton.

It is claimed for this new system that the regularity of the size of the bale, 4 x 2 feet, makes it pack much closer than the irregular turtle-backed bales as usually made on the old system.