204 COTTON 



produced that exceeds the cotton crop in value. Among the eight 

 leading crops of the United States, the cotton crop ranks much 

 higher in percentage of total value than in percentage of total acre- 

 age. This is shown by the following table drawn from the average 

 acreage and value of each of these crops for the years 1911, 1912, 

 1913: 



Crop Per cent of total value Crop Per cent of total acreage 



Corn 34.9 Corn 36.3 



Hay 16.6 Wheat 17.1 



Cotton 16.3 Hay 16.8 



Wheat 14.4 Oats 13.0 



Oats 9.0 Cotton 12.3 



Potatoes 4.6 Barley 2.7 



Barley 2.2 Potatoes 1.4 



Tobacco 2.0 Tobacco 0.4 



Total 100.0 Total 100.0 



Cotton Production by States. The American cotton crop is 

 produced almost entirely by ten States. These are the following, 

 arranged in order according to their average crop of 1912, 1913, 

 .1914: 



State Per cent of American crop State Per cent of American crop 



Texas 30.5 Oklahoma 7.1 



Georgia 15.5 Arkansas 6.6 



Alabama 10.4 North Carolina 5.9 



South Carolina 9.3 Louisiana /.'. 2.9 



Mississippi 8.2 Tennessee 2.4 



Other southern States combined produce only 1.2 per cent of 

 the total crop. 



Thus it is seen that the American cotton crop is fairly distributed 

 within the territory lying south of a line running west from the 

 southeast corner of Virginia to the northwest corner of Oklahoma 

 and thence south akmg the western border of Texas. In certain 

 States of this territory the production of the possible amount of 

 cotton is not reached by reason of the interposition of other crops. 

 Thus, in North Carolina and Tennessee tobacco supersedes cotton to 

 a considerable extent, while in Louisiana sugar cane and rice are 

 extensively cultivated. Above the southern border of Virginia the 

 production of cotton for commercial purposes is prohibited by the 

 cool climate. West of Texas the light rainfall is a limiting factor, 

 although small amounts of cotton are produced in certain areas. 



