. Agriculture for beginners. that it isoften called King Cotton. Thousands upon thousands ofpeople scan the newspapers each day to see what price itsstaple is bringing. From its bounty a vast army of toilers,who plant its seed, who pick its bolls, who gin its staple,who spin and weave its lint, who grind its seed, who refineits oil, draw daily bread. Does not its proper productiondeserve the best thought that can be given it .-* In the cotton belt almost any well-drained soil will pro-duce cotton. The following kinds of soil are admirablysuited to this plant: red and gray loams with good clays
. Agriculture for beginners. that it isoften called King Cotton. Thousands upon thousands ofpeople scan the newspapers each day to see what price itsstaple is bringing. From its bounty a vast army of toilers,who plant its seed, who pick its bolls, who gin its staple,who spin and weave its lint, who grind its seed, who refineits oil, draw daily bread. Does not its proper productiondeserve the best thought that can be given it .-* In the cotton belt almost any well-drained soil will pro-duce cotton. The following kinds of soil are admirablysuited to this plant: red and gray loams with good claysubsoil; sandy soils over sandstone and limestone; rich,dry bottom lands. The safest soils are medium land must always be well drained. Cotton was originally a tropical plant; but, strange tosay, it seems to thrive best in temperate zones. The cottonplant does best, according to Newman, in climates whichhave (a) six months of freedom from frost; (d) a mod-erate, well-distributed rainfall during the plants growing. 151 152 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS period; (c) abundant sunshine and little rain during theplants maturing period. In America, the Southern States from Virginia to Texashave these climatic qualities, and it is in these states thatthe cotton industry has been developed until it is one of thegiant industries of the world. This development has beenvery rapid. As late as 1736 the cotton plant was grown asan ornamental flowering plant in many front yards; in 1899,11,199,994 bales of cotton were grown in the South, There are a great many varieties of cotton. Only twoof these, however, are of much interest to the practicalAmerican farmer. These are (i) the short-stapled, uplandvariety most commonly grown in all the Southern States;
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