Evening star., 1926-05-31
COTTON IS KING
WITHOUT RIVAL
Average Mans Daily Expert.
ence 0bIiges Him to Pay
Tribute.


quarters here of the National Geo
graphic Society.
Might and day the average man
seldom escapes the influence of King
Cotton" says the bulletin. He. sleeps
between cotton sheets on mattress
stuffed with the fluffy white fibers.
After he discards his cotton pajamas
and takes his morning bath he uses
Turkish towel made of cotton: he
dons cotton underclothes: and II 1t Is
Summer he probably wears outer gar
ments at least partly made of tcoton.
The celluloid comb and brush which
he uses in making his toilet, and even
the handle of his toothbrush. are PROB
ably made from the same indispenSa'
BILE fiber.
Breakfast Not Cottonless.
Breakfast is not entirely cottonless
even though the table is spread WIN
linen. If margarin.is used instead OF
butter it is probably made largely
from cotton seed oil; while the same
oil solid shortening made from IL
may be used in griddle cakes. biscuits
or muffins. The morning paper. too.
which MIR. Average Man thumbs
through is dependent on cotton for the
film from which its photographs were
made.
III he motors to town, he rides on
tires that could not be made so cheap
and strong and durable except Tor
their 'carcasses' of cotton fabric or
cords. Perhaps the upholstery, the
brake Innings, and even the lacquer
finish on the car have drawn upon cot.
ton as raw materials. Arrived at his
Office he makes use of cotton In some
Of his stationery, his telephone insula.
ton, his typewriter ribbons. his window
cords, his shades, and probably IN
numerous other ways.
"At luncheon Mr.. Average Man
doubtless eats from table covered
with cotton and uses cotton napkin,
for most restaurants and hotels use
cotton table linen.' More than likely
the roast of his evening meal Is from
an animal fattened in part on cotton.
seed meal. II he goes to the movies
in the evening he is patronizing a
huge industry into whose miles OF
film cotton enters as the chief raw
material. The seat covers. the hang
ings, and even the screen on which
the story he has come to see Is un-
folded owe their allegiance to King
Cotton.
Closets Stocked With Cotton.
Mrs. Average Woman leans even
Gossypium Hirsutum. The shelves of
her linen closet are stacked high with
white cotton goods used In bed and
bath rooms. In her clothes closets
hang dress after dress of the same
material. while her dresser drawers
are filled with cotton garments. Her
dishes and ried on cotton dishcloths,
her laundry itself largely cotton)
hangs on cotton lines, she darns and
mends with cotton thread. and retires
for the night to sleep in and between
and upon cotton.
From where does this indispensable
cotton come"
Most of it from American cotton
fields of the South and Southwest.
Just now the first little green
plants whose. lives and progress will
mean so much to market exchanges
and commerce in the Summer and
Fall are pushing through the black
earth in southern Texas. Each
week. as the sun acets warmer, will
see the green army advance farther
north until it will stand in possession
of close to 40 million acres of the
south. This is equivalent to $500
square miles. and IL 1t were a single
field 1t would he large enough to
cover every square foot of Pennsyl-
FdIld, NEW Jersey dIlu DCldWdEe diiu
most of Connecticut.
Crop Worth q Billion.
THE little plants which will sup
ply the great American cotton crop Of
1926 cgreat' because even in poor
years American cotton Is seldom worth
less than a billion dollars) are grow.
ing in rows to feet apart. They
are planted rather thickly: but when
they are several inches tall the farm
ers. and their laborers go along the
rows with hoes chopping out surplus
seedlings. an incidentally weeds and
grass, leaving the plants from II to Is
inches apart.
After this most of the cultivation
is given with broad shallow plows and
riding cultivators. Under the warmth
Of the Southern Spring and Summer
the plants grow rapidly. When they
reach maturity each Is virtually .
sturdy little tree or 4 feet high, its
branches touching those of its neigh
bors in its row and almost meeting the
branches from plants in rows on
either side.
"The first blooms appear in the
southernmost part of the cotton belt
about the middle of May and sweep
to the northern edge of northern Ten
middle of July. They are beautiful
snow.white blossoms at first, then
change through pink to red. They
never fade, but the red petals fall,
leaving at their bases little green
Squares in the center Of which nestle
the green 'bolls' about the size of a
end. These swell readily through
the warm Summer weeks until they
are the size of an egg, when they are
tinged with reddish brown. They then
crack open along five lines and expose
in each orange.like segment a closely
packed moist white substance. In few
days the segments have folded back.
the moisture has evaporated and
ball of fluffy white cotton rests in it's
fragmentary saucer. II left unpicked
too long the cotton hangs downward
from the open bolls-now dry and
brown--like snowy moss.
Cotton Picking Partly Holiday.
contemplating time is as much a
nature.marked season in the South as
Is the overflow Of the Nile in Egypt
or the appearance of the Summer sun
in the Arctic. The work appeals to
the Southern negro. Industries lose
their employees. housewives their
maids. when the late Summer exodus
to the cotton fields begin. Many of
the pickers camp out for weeks near
the fields in which they work and look
upon the outing as a sort of holiday.
Even children and aged persons take
part In the work, dragging their can
vas sacks behind them.
"A generation ago pickers received
40 to so cents, for each hundred
pounds picked, but the pay has in
creased greatly in recent years. Last
year pickers received $1.25. $3.50 and
even $1.75 hundred in some regions.
The average worker picks about 200
pounds day, but experts pick 500