THE FIBER CROPS 



275 



seed is used in all paints and varnishes of good quality. 

 Hemp seed oil is used in cooking and in the manufacture 

 of paints, varnishes and soap. 



Cotton 



207. The Importance of Cotton. — Cotton has often 

 been called the king of crops because it is our leading article 



of ex-port. More farm 

 land in the United 

 States is planted each 

 year, however, to corn, 

 oats or wheat than to 

 cotton. 



The great value of 

 cotton lies in the fact 

 that it furnishes the 

 greater part of the 

 clothing of the people 

 of the earth. The 

 magnitude of the cot- 

 ton-growing industry 

 has increased to such 

 an extent that the 

 whole economic world 

 is unsettled when war 

 or any other disaster interferes with its movement in the 

 raw or manufactured state to and fro between countries. 

 Our exports of cotton in a single year ordinarily amount to 

 more than three hundred million dollars, from which we 

 may readily see how serious a matter it is to our people 

 if the ports of the world become closed against it. 



208. Where Cotton is grown in the United States. — 



The states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missis- 



FiG. 120. — An opened cotton boll. 



