I worked for my Uncle picking cotton at the exact same rate as you. It was 3 cent a pound. I was 9 or 10 and didn’t have to work but wanted some spending money.
I typically would pick around 90 pounds a day. I was not trying to set any records tho. The one thing which bothered me is the open bolls were a little like thorns and if you missed the cotton it would eventually irritate your fingers.
I spoke to a friend who grew up in Texas and he said they just picked the entire boll. That would have been tremendously easier.
I remember the first trip to the cotton gin. Uncle Buck paid us in cash and I went to the dime store and bought a monopoly set. When I got home, I ordered a telescope from a tiny add in Sports Afield. I got it in a couple of weeks and it was a pretty decent telescope.
I remember it well. The most I ever picked in a day was 87 pounds. $2.61 was a lot of money for a 9 year old.
We picked each field twice. Then we picked the bolls. As for the puncture wounds, we envied those who could afford gloves.
Another memory in the cotton field was when I was too little to pick. Many times I’d take a nap on the cotton sack while my mother picked. When I finally got old enough to pick I used a burlap sack. We called it a toe sack. Not sure if that’s how it is spelled. We never had to write it down.