[Illustration: OPENING MACHINES.
The bales are opened, and the cotton is thrown into the large hoppers
at the front of these machines, which open and loosen the fibers,
work out lumps and remove the grosser impurities, such as dirt, leaf,
seed and trash. A strong air draft carries off the dust and foreign
particles, and lifts the cotton through trunks to the floor above.]
[Illustration: LAPPER MACHINES.
In these machines, known as Breaker and Finisher Lappers, more of the
trash and impurities is beaten out of the cotton, and the lint is
carried forward and wound into rolls of cotton batting, known as laps.
Several of these are doubled and drawn into one so as to get the weight
of each yard as uniform as possible.]
[Illustration: FIRST STEPS IN MAKING COTTON CLOTH