CHAPTER XXXVI. 



CONCLUSION: THE EPIC OF THE COTTON THAT is 



YET TO BE WRITTEN 



We have now followed the progress of the cotton 

 plant followed it in history from the time the 

 ancient disciples of Brahma in the Orient first 

 began its use; followed it in growing from the time 

 the seed is put into the cool, fresh earth in spring 

 until its snowy harvest is gathered in December; 

 followed it in marketing and manufacturing from 

 the time it passes through Whitney's gin until the 

 once-rejected seed are turned to a thousand 

 growing uses of mankind and the lint is set to its 

 task of making prince's palace more gorgeous or 

 beggar's body more comfortable; followed it in 

 commerce from the sunny fields of Texas or 

 Mississippi to the frozen regions of the Arctic or 

 the sleeping Empire of the Celestials, or to our new- 

 caught, sullen peoples in far-away Asia or Africa. 



And yet we have not written, as we should like to 

 write, the real Epic of the Cotton. In fact, it 

 cannot be written yet, for we have not yet come to a 

 realization of the full significance of the South 's 

 great industry. 



It is indeed a rich heritage that we have a 

 monopoly of the American export crop which not 

 only surpasses any other in value, but is worth more 

 than all others combined; a monopoly of the one 



(330) 



