The great cotton crop of the southern states
228. Cotton Fields and Cotton Factories. Since the days of Eli Whitney cotton has been grown in all the southern states from Virginia westward to Texas, and from the Gulf of Mexico north to Missouri. More than one half of all the cotton in the world is grown in southern United States. High-grade cotton is also grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and California is now one of our leading cotton-producing states.
A field of growing cotton is very picturesque. Its culture employs many laborers. The number of laborers needed, however, is not the same throughout the year. In the fall, when the bolls ripen, all hands, large and small, pick cotton. This work takes several months. Then the picked cotton is put through a gin which is still built along the lines of Whitney's invention. The cleaned cotton is pressed into large bales and is then ready for market.
Cotton-seed oil
The cotton seed goes to one mill, the cotton to another. For many years the seed was wasted. Farmers burned it or threw it away. But now in all parts of the South great mills crush the seed and make from it a valuable oil. What is left is cotton-seed cake, and is bought eagerly by cattle growers everywhere.
PICKING COTTON
From a photograph
Cotton mills in the South
Only a few years ago almost all the cotton grown in the South was shipped away, either to Europe or to New England. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island cotton mills employ more people than any other industry, and great cities are supported almost entirely by manufacturing cotton goods. Now the South has also discovered that it can spin and weave its cotton at home. About many of its waterfalls is heard the hum of busy cotton mills. New cities are growing up, and prosperity has returned to the South.