CHAPTER XIX. 



THE COTTON FARMER S EQUIPMENT OF TOOLS 



It is doubtful if any factor has contributed 

 more to the advancement and progress of Amer- 

 ican agriculture than the improvement of farm im- 

 plements and machinery. When one contem- 

 plates the enormous yields of American corn, wheat, 

 cotton, oats, potatoes and other crops, he is struck 

 with wonder and amazement. What a record our 

 farmers have made! But have you thought of the 

 debt we owe to inventors and to makers of tools 

 and implements, without which these tremendous 

 yields would be impossible ? 



Unfortunately for him, the cotton farmer has not 

 had such advantages as his brother farmers in the 

 use of labor-saving machines and tools. On far 

 too many farms their use is limited indeed, and 

 often we find only the one-horse plow and the hoe. 

 Cotton farming can never be profitable where this 

 is true. The use of inefficient tools also means 

 an economic policy at variance with the advance- 

 ment and progress of civilization, since it restricts 

 the possibilities of land and labor, and decreases 

 their potential contribution to the human race. 



But where these old fashioned methods exist, they 

 are now fast giving way to improvements, making 

 the culture of cotton less laborious, less costly, and 



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