How did they weigh the bale of cotton?
When the cotton bale was rolled out of the press box – it was ready to be weighed. Huge hooks were put on the bale and it was hoisted off the floor by a rope and pulley system. A sixteen pound weight – called a “P” was placed on the “P-scale” at the spot where the bale of cotton would balance – usually around the 500 pound mark. (Today a bale of cotton still weighs 500 pounds but is half the size of the old fashioned bale. All the air is compressed out of the modern bale making it smaller.
