1902-1903.] Cotton audits Cultivation. 47 



the temperate zone; so also with flax and the cultivated 

 grasses. Cotton can be grown even north and south of the 

 subtropical region as well as in the tropics. Cotton is now 

 almost a necessity to the whole human race, but it is one of 

 the lately found necessities. It is difficult to get oneself to 

 believe that cotton was comparatively little used in the days 

 even of our grandparents. Flax (linen) filled the place now 

 almost universally occupied by cotton. So much is this the 

 case, that terms remain in general use that are not descrip- 

 tive of the articles they are applied to. We hear constantly 

 of bed- and table-linen. Bed-cotton would be a more descrip- 

 tive term to-day. The fact of the use of a term shows the use 

 of the article to which it is applied. The article changes, but 

 the name remains. Now it is quite likely that cotton was 

 in use as early as linen, possibly earlier, — both were cer- 

 tainly used in very remote times ; but linen was in greater 

 use because the methods by which the fibre could be pre- 

 pared were simple, while cotton was difficult to prepare. One 

 mechanical invention has caused the great change from the use 

 of linen to cotton, — but more of that hereafter. Meantime, I 

 just suggest how soon a more or less strange commodity comes 

 to be almost a necessity. 



Let us now consider the range of latitude in which cotton is 

 grown. We need not look far back, — our interest in cotton is 

 of to-day. In Asia cotton is grown in large quantity, in 

 Japan, Southern Central Asia, and in West India. In Africa 

 it is grown in large quantities in Egypt only, but it can be 

 grown anywhere in that continent except the extreme south 

 and the high mountain regions of the interior — deserts, of course, 

 excepted, but even there it is only lack of moisture which 

 prevents its growth. In South America, like Africa, it can be 

 grown over vast areas, although as a matter of fact little 

 attention has been paid to it. In North America it is grown 

 in Mexico and in all the Southern States of the Union, al- 

 though in Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri it is an uncertain 

 crop. The limits of successful cultivation are just south of 

 these States. 



I propose dealing to-night specially with cotton cultiv- 

 ation in the United States, where I have had considerable 

 experience of it ; but first, let us just consider the importance 



