120 ELEMENTS OF FARM PRACTICE 



3. The world's production of cane sugar amounts to about 

 8,000,000 long tons, of which continental United States produced 

 about 325,000 tons. -What per cent of the world's crop was produced 

 in the United States? 



FIBER CROPS 



Fiber is a slender, threadlike substance used in making 

 numerous things, such as cloth, silk, rope, thread, twine, 

 paper, etc. It is obtained from two sources, animal and 

 vegetable. The most important animal fiber is wool from 

 the sheep and the silk spun by the silk worm. A large part 

 of the vegetable fiber is taken from the three plants, cotton, 

 flax and hemp. 



Cotton. — Cotton is a plant raised extensively in, the 

 southern states. The large, white blossom of this plant 

 turns pink the second day, and later developes into a body 

 about the size and shape of an egg. When ripe, this breaks 

 open, exposing the seeds which are covered with fiber or lint 

 from one to two inches long. It is this lint when removed 

 from the seed that is used in making thread, cloth, etc. 



Soil. — The largest crops of cotton are raised on the 

 rich, loamy soils of the southern Mississippi Valley and the 

 clay loams of Texas. But it may be raised successfully on 

 light sandy soils, if they are fertile and moist. (Nearly 

 all the cotton production in the United States is limited to 

 the southeastern states.) 



Planting and Cultivation. — The seed is usually dropped 

 evenly in furrows. The furrows are generally from two and 

 a half to five feet apart. When plants are about two inches 

 high the spaces between rows are plowed, and the plants in 

 the rows thinned out with a hoe until they are usually 

 from one to two feet apart. The crop is later cultivated 

 from three to five times, and hoed once or twice. 



Picking and Ginning. — The cotton picking is done by 

 hand, and commences as soon as a considerable number of 

 pods or bolls open. Usually three pickings are necessary. 



In the ginning the lint is removed from the seed and 

 packed into bales ready for the mills. 



Flax. — The flax plant is an annual which grows from 

 twelve to twenty inches high. It has a single, upright 

 stem and a light blue blossom. It is from the stem that the 



