CHAPTER XXVI 

 COTTON 1 



COTTON is the greatest of all fiber crops. It provides the prin- 

 cipal articles of clothing for mankind. Of the four great staples 

 from which clothes are made cotton, silk, wool, and flax cotton is 

 rapidly superseding the others. It is easy to grow, easy to manu- 

 facture, and its finished product is cheap. And from no other crop 

 are df rived so many useful by-products. 



Cotton is the leading cash crop of our country. Its imperishable 

 nature renders it proof against depreciation in storage and it is the 

 only important crop, with the exception of tobacco, which is con- 

 verted directly and entirely into money. 



World Production of Cotton. The production of cotton is 

 confined to warm countries. Previous to the first quarter of the 

 nineteenth century, India was the leading cotton-producing country 

 and a considerable part of the world's crop was also grown in Egypt. 

 Since 1830, however, the production of cotton has centered in the 

 southern part of the United States. At the present time the south- 

 ern States produce three-fourths of the total cotton crop of the world. 

 This is shown by the following table, which includes in round 

 numbers the average for the crops of 1918-1920 : 



Average Production of Cotton, 19JS-1920 

 Country Bales 



United States 11,414,000 



India 3,133,000 



Egypt 1,137,000 



China 928,000 



All other countries 1,689,000 



Total 18,301,000 



Cotton Production in the United States. Although climatic 

 conditions restrict the commercial production of cotton to a group of 

 States constituting less than one-fourth of the total area of the coun- 

 try, yet in value the annual cotton crop is exceeded only by corn and 

 hay. Since the hay crop is composed of many different grasses and 

 legumes, corn may be considered the only plant from which a crop is 



1 Prepared by Dr. W. C. Etheridge, Florida Agricultural College. 



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