338 



FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



It was cultivated by the colonists at as early a date as 

 1764, when eight bales of it were exported to Liverpool. 

 The crop, however, was not an important one in this 

 country until after the Revolutionary War. The history 

 of cotton cannot well be told without recording the name 

 of Eli Whitney, who in 1792 invented the cotton gin. 

 Whitney's invention marked a new era in the history of 

 the cotton crop. Previous to this the yield of cotton was 



small, and its use was 

 limited largely because 

 it was necessary to 

 prepare it by hand for 

 weaving. The inven- 

 tion of the gin and its 

 improvement in later 

 years made possible 

 the great cotton fields 

 of to-day, which sup- 

 ply the large portion 

 of the civilized people 

 of the world with 

 cheap and serviceable 

 clothing. 



354. Description. — 

 The cotton plant be- 

 longs to the Malvaceae or Mallow Family, which includes 

 the many species of mallow and also the hollyhock and the 

 Rose of Sharon, a highly prized shrub for the beautifying 

 of landscapes. The cotton plant varies greatly in form 

 and in its manner of growth, ranging in height from low 

 growing plants to trees 20 feet high. The larger tree- 

 like plants, while they produce fiber, are grown only as a 

 curiosity. The cotton grown for the fiber in the southern 



Fig. 122. — A cotton plant. 



