COTTON 



160-1 



COTTON 



that it Is almost the e|iiul of flax or hemp, and 

 into thread so flno that one pound will reach 

 more than a hundred miles. Every year manu- 

 facturers discover new ways of preparing it, and 

 every year the demand for It increases, and 'the 



world. It seems, cannot have enough of It 



And if. through sojne calamity, we should lose all 

 goods made cutln-ly or partly of cotton, and if 

 all people should he thrown out of employment 

 whose occupation Is, In any way, dependent upon 

 it whether in the cultivation, the manufacture, 

 or the commerce the civilized world would be all 

 but naked, a large per cent of it would be hun- 

 gry, and the homes would be bare and comfort- 

 less. 



Distribution and Production. The cotton 

 plant is a member of the mallow family, and 

 the first cousin of the familiar roadside mal- 

 low and the stately hollyhock. It is distrib- 

 uted widely over the world within the thirty- 

 fifth parallels north and south of the equator, 



Figures Represent Thousands of Bales 



So. Carolina 



1,380 IP79 



COMPARATIVE ANNUAL CROPS 

 The diagram shows that Texas produces more 

 cotton than all India, that Georgia exceeds Egypt, 

 and that Mississippi leads Russia. The figures 

 represent production based upon an average of 

 five years. 



reaching its highest stage of development in the 

 belt between 20 and 35 north latitude ; within 

 this area are found the cotton belts of the 

 United States, Egypt and China, the three lead- 

 ing countries in its production. 



India, Siberia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Asiatic 

 Turkey and Persia also raise it in large quan- 

 tities, and it is cultivated to a limited extent 



in Greece, Italy, the west coast of Africa, 

 Argentina, Australia and the Pacific islands. 

 The world's annual production of cotton is 

 from 18.000,000 to 25,000,000 bales, from 10,- 

 000,000 to 16,000,000 being the output of the 

 Southern United States. It is a warm-weather 

 plant, and requires a moderate amount of rain- 

 fall; excessive rainfall and severe drought are 

 equally fatal to its growth. 



Varieties. Differences of soil, climatic con- 

 ditions and methods of cultivation have tended 

 to produce many different varieties of the cot- 

 ton plant. There ape variations in the height 

 to which it grows, in the quality and length of 

 the hairlike strands, or fibers, that form its 

 lint, and in the color of the lint. Cotton fibers 

 range in length from half an inch to nearly two 

 inches, and it is the length and fineness of 

 these fibers, not the size of the stalk, that 

 determine the value. 



From a commercial standpoint the most im- 

 portant varieties are the sea-island, the Egyp- 

 tian, the Peruvian and the upland. The sea- 

 island leads all others in the length and quality 

 of its fibers. These have an average length 

 of 1.61 inches, and they are so fine that one 

 pound can be spun into a thread 160 miles 

 long. This plant grows to a height of twelve 

 feet or more. It is cultivated most successfully 

 along the coast region of South Carolina, 

 Georgia and Florida, especially in the sea 

 islands off the South Carolina coast. The 

 South Carolina product is the choicest. Fine 

 fabrics and laces and the finer grades of spool 

 cotton are spun from the long, silky fiber of 

 sea-island cotton. 



Though the American South is the king of 

 cotton-growing districts, about 300,000 bales 

 of foreign cotton are imported yearly, to offset 

 large exports. Of the foreign product, that 

 from Egypt is the most important. Egyptian 

 cotton is a variety of sea-island, but is less 

 fine than the American product. Its fiber, 

 which has an average length of 1.31 inches, is 

 especially adapted to the manufacture of goods 

 having a smooth finish and silky luster, and 

 it takes the dye admirably. Its tawny color, 

 however, is utilized in the manufacture of 

 goods that require no dye, such as lace cur- 

 tains of the natural ecru shade. The English 

 people are working very hard to develop Egyp- 

 tian cotton fields. Attempts are now being 

 made to introduce Egyptian cotton into the 

 irrigated districts of Arizona and into the Im- 

 perial Valley of California, but thus far without 

 encouraging returns. 



