CHAPTER XIX. 
THE COTTON FARMER' S EQUIPMENT OF TOOLS 
It is doubtful if any factor has contributed 
more to the advancement and progress of Amer- 
ican agriculture than the improvement of farm im- 
plements and machinery. When one contem- 
plates the enormous yields of American corn, wheat, 
cotton, oats, potatoes and other crops, he is struck 
with wonder and amazement. What a record our 
farmers have made! But have you thought of the 
debt we owe to inventors and to makers of tools 
and implements, without which these tremendous 
yields would be impossible ? 
Unfortunately for him, the cotton farmer has not 
had such advantages as his brother farmers in the 
use of labor-saving machines and tools. On far 
too many farms their use is limited indeed, and 
often we find only the one-horse plow and the hoe. 
Cotton farming can never be profitable where this 
is true. The use of inefficient tools also means 
an economic policy at variance with the advance- 
ment and progress of civilization, since it restricts 
the possibilities of land and labor, and decreases 
their potential contribution to the human race. 
But where these old fashioned methods exist, they 
are now fast giving way to improvements, making 
the culture of cotton less laborious, less costly, and 
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