24 HUMAN FACTORS IN COTTON CULTURE 

 "COTTON AND 'CAWN' " 



A spot map of the distribution of corn shows that it 

 is cultivated in all portions of the Cotton Belt although 

 there is no such concentration as found in the Corn Belt 

 reaching through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Baker esti- 

 mates that 48 to 52 per cent of the crop land in the 

 Cotton Belt is given over to the production of feed for 

 live stock. 40 This includes cotton seed, however, which is 

 estimated to occupy about 6 per cent of the crop area. 

 In areas of less intensive specialization corn often occu- 

 pies an area equal to that of cotton. The farming system 

 is based upon the two crops which are "planted in suc- 

 cession or alternation until the productiveness of the soil 

 is reduced." * The Belt does not produce enough corn to 

 supply its own needs. As a result the price of corn in the 

 Cotton Belt is often twice as high as in the Corn Belt. 

 On the other hand, the production per acre is about half 

 that of the Corn Belt. Dr. Baker suggests that "the pro- 

 duction of corn, hay, cattle, and hogs in the Cotton Belt 

 appears likely to be profitable only up to that point at 

 which the supply of these products does not exceed the 

 local demand." 2 H. C. Taylor also suggests that corn 

 may pay when grown for home use and yet fail to achieve 

 a place as a commercial crop. 43 The northern and western 

 fringes of this Belt are devoted to combination crops of 

 wheat, rye, and oats. These are exceeded in acreage fur- 

 ther south by cow peas, velvet beans, and peanuts. Sweet 

 potatoes are evenly distributed throughout the humid 

 portions of the whole Cotton Belt. The facility and 

 abundance with which these "by-products" crops can be 



Baker, op. cit., p. 79. 41 Ibid., p. 80. & Ibid., p. 82. 



43 Outlines of Agricultural Economics, p. 60. 



