Too much man and horse power has been employed upon Southern farms in proportion to the results achieved.

The South has been producing a large value per acre but a small value per individual.

If the South is to become permanently prosperous, fewer persons must do the work and must even increase the production.
A practical cotton-picking machine would help to solve some of the South's problems, as any family can plant and cultivate after a fashion much more cotton than it can pick.

Many attempts to produce such a machine have been made, but simplicity, efficiency, and cheapness have not yet been attained.

Like the reaper and binder, a machine of this sort is needed for only a small portion of the year, but in that short period the need is extreme.