Wirtz

These two actions were brought in the District Court by the Secretary of Labor under Section 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 1 to enjoin further al *21 leged violations of the overtime provisions of Section 7 of the Act. The two actions were consolidated for hearing and were submitted to the District Court on cross motions for summary judgment, based on a record consisting of stipulations and a deposition. The court granted the defendants’ motions and entered judgments accordingly. The Secretary brought these appeals to this court, and the cases have been consolidated for purposes of appeal. No question is raised concerning the jurisdiction of the District Court or this court.

The defendants operate plants in which they engage in compressing cotton, and in handling the bales of cotton to and from the compresses. They also store the cotton which they compress, before and after the compressing is done. The defendants say that this storage is merely incidental to their principal activity of compressing. The Secretary attaches much more importance to the storage, as will appear later herein.

The generally applicable requirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act, with regard to the…