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Here is something I found at the University of Texas website
FIRST MECHANICAL COTTON PICKER
The Cotton Digest International, November 2003 In 2003, Case IH celebrates the 60th anniversary of the commercial introduction of mechanical harvesting technology for cotton. In 1943, International Harvester Company, part of today's Case IH, unveiled the model H-10-H spindle cotton picker, the world's first commercially successful mechanical cotton picker. "Mechanical cotton harvesting presented engineers with unique challenges," says Trent Haggard, marketing manager for Case IH cotton harvesting products. "The plants are stiff and woody, and the bolls that house the actual fiber do not readily release it. International Harvester experimented with various technologies for about 40 years before developing our signature design, which harvests from both sides of the plant." Introduction of the H-10-H picker also came at the height of World War II when the cotton harvesting workforce was in short supply. When commenting on the revolutionary introduction, Fowler McCormick, then president of International Harvester, said, "We regard it as fortunate that perfection of the picker has coincided with the great present wartime need to solve a critical agricultural manpower situation." Quest for Mechanical Picking The quest to replace man with machine for cotton harvest began even earlier. Between 1850 and the introduction of the International Harvester design, more than 1,800 cotton picker patents were issued. Today's spindle picker design is based on the early work of Angus Campbell, Theodore H. Price and Peter Haring. International Harvester purchased the Price-Campbell patents in 1924 and continued to refine the cotton picker to produce a design that performed consistently under all conditions. Due to the scarcity of resources during World War II, mass production of International Harvester cotton pickers could not begin until after 1947, when the Memphis Works was completed. In 1948, more than 1,000 cotton pickers were produced. H-10-H pickers mounted on Farmall H tractors could pick approximately 7 acres per day, or 4 bales of cotton. Today's six-row Case IH CPX610 pickers can harvest up to 100 acres of cotton per day, or 200 bales. In 2000, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) recognized the development and successful commercialization of the International Harvester cotton picker as one of the top five agricultural achievements of the 20th century. Prior to that in 1978 ASAE also designated "Old Red," a 1943 International Harvester H-10-H cotton picker donated to the Smithsonian Institution, as an ASAE landmark. Two-Sided Picking Advantage Continues Case IH has continued to improve and refine its industry-leading cotton harvesting design over the last 60 years, as evidenced by an impressive string of patents in cotton harvesting technology. Most recently, four new patents accompanied the introduction of the Case IH Cotton Express CPX610 cotton picker. The basics of the two-sided spindle design have remained constant over the years, however.
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