COTTON 



COTTON 



249 



the civil war, production was resumed in this 

 country and has been continued since at a rapid 

 rate of increase, reaching 8,547,468 bales in 1892, 

 and 13,693,279 bales in 1904. In a single century, 

 from 1804 to 1904, the crop increased from 130,- 

 000 bales, valued at $13,000,014, to 13,693,279 

 bales, valued at $557,147,306.65. In the early his- 

 tory of cotton cultivation the seeds were not valued 

 at all. Growers were troubled to know how to get 

 rid of them. But in 1904 the seeds alone were 

 valued at $90,258,227.86, making the total value of 

 that year's crop, unmanufactured, $647,405,534 51. 

 Cotton now furnishes clothing for a large part 

 of the human race, and millions of people are de- 

 voting their exclusive attention to its cultivation. 

 Millions more are engaged in its transportation and 

 manufacture, and it furnishes the basis of credit 

 for a large part of this country and Europe. In 

 fact, the magnitude of the cotton industry has be- 

 come so great that any disaster to it will seriously 

 disturb the economic conditions of the world. 



Regions of cultivation. 



Cotton is probably indigenous to the tropical and 

 serai-tropical regions of both hemispheres. The 

 earliest records of the Asiatics and Egyptians speak 

 of it; Columbus found it growing abundantly in the 

 West Indies, while other early explorers found it 

 growing in Mexico and South America. Its range 

 has been greatly extended by the amelioration due 

 to cultivation, and now it may be said to extend 

 around the world, enibracing thirty to forty degrees 

 of latitude on either side of the equator. However, 

 various modiiieations due to economic, soil and 

 climatic conditions exist in this wide belt, the most 

 favorable conditions being found in the United 

 States. The soil and climatic requirements of 

 sea-island cotton limit its growth mainly to the 

 islands and lands along the coast of South Carolina, 

 Georgia and Florida, while upland cotton is adapted 

 to a much wider range of conditions and its pro- 

 duction far exceeds that of sea-island. 



There is no region in the world which has such 

 a favorable combination of suitable land, intelli- 

 gent and plentiful labor, cheap capital and ade- 

 quate transportation facilities for the cultivation 

 of cotton as the cotton-belt of the United States. 

 It has been the chief source of supply of the cotton 

 mills of the world, for in this section has been 

 raised several times the quantity of cotton pro- 

 duced in all other countries of the globe. There 

 are various other countries which seem to possess 

 the soil and climatic requirement for its growth, 

 but for various economic reasons the industry has 

 not been greatly developed in them ; however, a 

 considerable quantity is produced in the following 

 countries, in about the order named : India, Egypt, 

 China, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, West Indies, Mexico, 

 South Africa, Australia and South Sea Islands. 



There are no available statistics showing the 

 annual crops of all cotton -producing countries, 

 but the consumption of the mills of Great Britain, 

 the continent of Europe, the United States, India, 

 Japan, Canada, Mexico, and other countries fairly 

 approximates the world's production. According 



to the United States census of 1900, the consump- 

 tion for the year 1899-1900 was 13,535,000 bales 

 of 500 pounds each. In the year 1900 the United 

 States produced 9,990,900 bales. This will give an 

 idea of the unique position which this country 

 occupies among the cotton-producing countries of 

 the world. 



Cotton culture. 



The two important crops of southern United 

 States are cotton and corn, — the former as a 

 money crop and the latter as a food crop. These 

 two have been grown almost to the exclusion of 

 home supplies. The cost of cultivation of corn is 

 less than of cotton, but even at the lowest prices 

 reached by cotton in many decades, it is a better- 

 paying crop. So we iind cotton as the very center 

 and soul of southern agriculture. 



Profitable cotton-growing depends on the climate, 

 fertility of the soil, good preparation of the land 

 before planting, thorough cultivation of the grow- 

 ing crop, and the quality of the seed. 



Climate. — The climatic requirements are plenty 

 of moisture during the growing and fruiting 

 period, dry weather during the opening and harvest 

 season, and a temperature ranging from 60° to 

 90° Fahrenheit for at least six months of the 

 year. Too cool weather in the spring stunts the 

 plants ; too much rain during the growing season 

 encourages plant development at the expense of 

 boll production, renders cultivation difBcult and 

 promotes the growth of weeds ; drought stunts the 

 plant, causes early maturity and reduces the yield ; 

 and early frost in the fall reduces the crop by 

 preventing the further development of the young 

 bolls and causing them to open prematurely. 



Rotation. — A three -course rotation is easily 

 adapted to many of the cotton-growing farms. 

 The following have given satisfaction : (1) Cotton, 

 followed by crimson clover ; (2) corn ; (3) wheat, 

 followed by cowpeas ; or, (1) Cotton ; (2) corn, 

 with cowpeas ; (3) oats, with cowpeas. Several 

 rotations are suggested for the cotton-growing 

 states on pages 100-106. A short-course rotation 

 (of two or three years) is fundamentally essential 

 in the cotton-belt. 



Soil and fertility. — Cotton very readily adjusts 

 itself to the soil conditions, and will usually 

 yield a crop in proportion to the fertility of the 

 land ; however, there are certain necessary ex- 

 penses in the cultivation of cotton regardless of 

 the yield, and it is unprofitable to grow it on 

 land which is not sufficiently fertile to produce 

 a crop whose value exceeds these expenses. In 

 some sections, like the delta region of Missis- 

 sippi, and various parts of Louisiana, Texas and 

 Arkansas, the soils are rich enough to do this, but 

 most of the cotton lands require the application of 

 artificial manures, the rotation of crops and other 

 means of increasing or retaining their fertility to 

 enable them to grow cotton profitably. Millions of 

 tons of commercial fertilizers, consisting largely 

 of acid phosphate, kainit, muriate of potash, 

 nitrate of soda and cottonseed-meal, are used 

 annually by cotton-growers to enrich their land. 



