CHAPTER XX 



COTTON GROWING 



"I wish I were in de land ob cotton, 

 Good times dar am not forgotten, look away. 

 Look away, Dixie Land." 

 Negro Melody. 



COTTON is the leading fibre crop of the world. There are no 

 records of when it was first grown. It is now the leading crop of 

 the so-called cotton belt, including the states south of Virginia 

 and Tennessee and extending west to include Texas and Oklahoma. 



Not only is the fibre of great value in the production of thread 

 and cloth, but the seed is of great value for the production of oil, 

 stock feed and high grade fertilizer. The yield of seed is about 

 twice as heavy as the lint. The cotton crop in 1909 was estimated 

 in value at more than eight hundred million dollars. This included 

 both seed and fibre. This is approximately forty per cent of the 

 world's product. If the world's crop were baled in ordinary bales 

 of five hundred pounds each, and the bales placed in a line along the 

 equator they would form a belt reaching one and one-quarter 

 times around the earth. Practically all nationalities of the world 

 use cotton grown in our southern states. About two-thirds of 

 the cotton and cotton seed products grown in the United States 

 are exported to other countries. 



The cotton plant belongs to the botanical group known as 

 the Mallow family, to which the hollyhock, althea and other 

 familiar plants belong (Figs. 189 and 190). The best cottqn plants 

 are strong and bushy and grow to a height of about four feet. 

 In climates where frosts form, cotton is an annual plant. 



Types of Cotton. There are four leading types of cotton: 



1. Sea Island cotton is suited to low, moist soil and moist air, 

 and is grown in the coastal regions scattered about the shore of 

 South Carolina, extending south into Georgia and Florida. The 

 lint separates entirely from the black seed, leaving it naked. The 

 fibres are very long and sell for a high price in the market, being 

 used to mix with the other types of cotton. 



2. Upland cotton is of two main types, hairy and smooth. 

 Both are suited to inland culture. The hairy variety is the chief 

 one grown in the United States and produces the bulk of our 



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