Why did early gins struggle to efficiently clean short-staple cotton output?
Answer
The fuzzy coating on the seeds made them cling stubbornly to the fiber
The short-staple seeds prevalent in the interior South had a fuzzy coating that caused them to cling stubbornly to the fiber, meaning the output contained significant debris.
Related Questions
What was the function of the wire teeth or rotating saws in Eli Whitney's original cotton gin design?What trade-off was introduced by the early cotton gin's mechanism prioritizing separation speed?Why did early gins struggle to efficiently clean short-staple cotton output?What immediate hazard did the high-speed operation of the early cotton gins pose to the workers?What was the most profound weakness introduced by the cotton gin, according to the text?Before the cotton gin, why was short-staple cotton unattractive for plantations reliant on enslaved labor?How did the cotton boom resulting from the gin's invention affect the planter class?What structural weakness emerged from the South's overwhelming reliance on 'King Cotton'?In regions where long-staple cotton grew, how was the economic pressure related to slavery expansion affected?Which subsequent adjustments were introduced to mitigate the mechanical shortcomings of Whitney’s early model?