336 AGRICULTURE 



farmer has made less general use of labor-saving machin- 

 ery than the grain and hay-grower. It is possible to grow 

 cotton profitably with a few very inexpensive implements, 

 and hence a beginning may be made in cotton culture by 

 one who has very little capital. But here, too, it pays to 

 utilize labor-saving machinery and the implements which 

 make possible the most thorough preparation and cultiva- 



Fio. 215. SHOWINO THE WRONG WAY TO STORE COTTON IN WINTER 



tion. Most cotton farms on which several horses or mules 

 are worked need a disk plow, large " turning plows," a 

 spike-tooth harrow (and often others), a weeder, and the 

 best cultivators. Riding on one of these labor-saving 

 implements, one intelligent man often does well the work 

 that two or more men would do while walking behind 

 smaller implements. 



The invention of the cotton gin was the greatest factor 

 in building up the cotton industry of the South. Likewise 

 a great cheapening of the cost of producing cotton will 



