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 semi-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, embracing thirty to forty degrees of latitude on either side of the equator. However, various modifications 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 find 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 difficult 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.