52 AGRICULTURE AND RURAL-LIFE DAY. 



little labor to raise cotton or to prepare it for manufacture. The 

 inhabitants of Spain and France, Italy and Greece learned to grow 

 cotton in the warmer climates, but they could raise barely enough 

 for their own use. England could raise none. In the early days of 

 the first settlement of Jamestown an attempt was made to cultivate 

 cotton, and it was advertised abroad that cotton would grow in the 

 American colony as well as in Italy. 



But transplanting a tropical plant to a temperate climate has a 

 tendency to change all its habits. The seed that had to be planted 

 only once in seven years in the Tropics had to be planted every year 

 at Jamestown. In fact, the seed were planted and replanted, crossed 

 and recrossed with seed from Italy, the West Indies, Spain, and 

 India before a variety could be developed that would thrive well in 

 the temperate climate; and the variety that finally survived is un- 

 like the cotton of the Tropics. The lint is not so fine as that of 

 India ; the plant is smaller and requires replanting every year, and 

 a great deal of labor is necessary to make it profitable. The most 

 difficult thing about this hj^brid plant is separating the seed from the 

 lint. Unlike the tropical cotton, the fibers adhere so closely to the 

 seed that they can not be shaken off, whipped off, or rolled off, and 

 it is with much difficulty that they can be picked off. 



The entire civilized world to-day wears clothing made of cotton; 

 and nearly, if not quite, every civilized nation has its cotton fac- 

 tory; but there is only one small section of the globe that furnishes 

 this fiber in abundance, and this is the Southern States of America, 

 which produce over two-thirds of the cotton of the world. The 

 world, therefore, is dependent upon the South, since cotton is the 

 king of clothing, and the South is the home of the king who levies 

 tribute on the world. The nations of the earth make obeisance to 

 him. 



Cotton is the friend of the poor and the luxury of the rich.' It is 

 made into cloth so coarse that it may be bought for a few cents a 

 yard. It is made into fabrics so fine and so beautiful that it can 

 hardly be told from silk, and it is made so heavy and so thick that 

 it looks like wool. It is made into rope and cord so strong that it 

 will hold a ship, and it is made into thread so fine that 1 pound 

 will reach more than 100 miles. Every year farmers are improving 

 the variety, and manufacturers discover new ways of preparing and 

 using the fiber. Every year the demand for it increases; and the 

 world, it seems, can not have enough of it. In recent years its by- 

 products have become a food for man, beast, and plants, and its pos- 

 sibilities are not yet fully developed. 



— From Brooks' " Story of Cottou." 



