The Coolidge examiner., 1934-03-30

room hang cotton towels snd wash
cloths. and a cotton shower curtain.
ON The bathing beach cotton
bathing suits aud shoes are seen
80 boxing matches boxers sWlng
coiion.padded gloves: at football
games. cotton-llned shoulder pads
protect the players AZ the movies
spectators view pictures projected
from cotton made films: tennis play
crs wear cotton shoes on golf llnks
cotton nags ~ on every green: and
ai the baseball park. cotton-eovered
bags mark three bases OF the dla-
mond.
Cotton baEginE for cotton bales
Is taking the place ~ iute bHEElng
TO slight extent ln some parts OF
the cotton belt. builders of cement
roads are covering green" cement
with cotton fabric Instead of bur
lap. engine builders use cotton
packing OIL rrfners and chemists
employ cotton alter cloth; and cot
ton conveyor belts are popular IN the
baking and confectionery industry.
one who holds In his hand a
pound of light. duffy cotton. will
fnd Il difficult 10 realize that about
i2.OoopoopO such handfuls were
produced ou the worlds cotton plan.
tatlons last year. Pressed into 40
called farmers bales. these hand
fuls would make about 2s.Ocn. .Dco
bales laid IN contact on the
ground like gigantic bricks. they
would make q solid cotton high
way" and-one fourth feet thick
and nearly twenty eight feet Wide
from Boston 10 los Angeles.
More than one half % the highway
would be- built os American cotton.
produced In our southern states.
and New Mexico. Arizona and Cali
fornIa. Indian cotton would build
about one-sixfh os such a highway.
China cotton about one ninih. Rus
Sian cotton about oue-iwelfth. and
farms OF Egypt. nrarll. UgandA. and
many minor producing regions of
the world would furnish the re-
malnder
Used In Prehistoric Times.
Your guess As 10 where and when
cotton originated Is. perhaps. as
good as that OF anyone else. Mu-
seums display cotton fabric used In
prehistoric times. Long before the
Christian era the cotton aber was
popular among weavers and wear
erS.
A book written about so p. C. re-
ters 10 the plant The Romans
made II popular In Europe. Colum-
bus noted that cotton grew Abun.
dainty In the West Indies, and other
famous Spanish and Portuguese ex-
plorers found 4, growing and In use
In Mexico. Peru. Brazil and India.
In Mexico II was the chief material
used Tor making clothing when the
Spaniards arrived
More than forty million acres. or
an area nearly as large as Pennsyl-
vania. New Jersey. Delaware. and
Connecticut. combined. produces
American cotton. The seeds are
planted In rows three 10 four feet
apart. when the plants are sew
eral inches tall the rows are hoed
by hand. and healthy plants L. 10 IS
inches apart are left 10 develop. Al
maturity the plants are virtually
sturdy trees three 10 four feet high.
The cotton flower ls snow-whlte
when the bud bursts Later IL
changes through pink 10 red The
red petals fall. leaving at their base
a little green boil slightly larger
than pea. The boil slowly swells
To nearly the size OF golf ball
Then IL ripens. bursts open. and In
n day or two becomes mass OF
fiury white cotton. ready TO pick.
Practically all cotton IL picked by
hand. but experiments are constant
ly helng carried ont to develop ma
chInery to perform this work
Seed Now Valuable Product.
Cotton seed was waste OF the In
dustry until after the Civil war. II
was burned. thrown aside TO rot. or
shoyeled into rivers. This former
waste material now Is worth about
S2U0.OO0Oo0 annually. The seeds
are ''glnned" again so that the tiny
adhering bits OF cotton or "llnters"
are removed. Cotton seed meal
makes cattle food. fertilizer and
-four. and meat substitutes for hu-
man consumption. Cotton seed oil
is used In shortening and an ingre-
dent OF some soaps. cosmetics. arti-
fetal feathers. ollcloth. roofing. but
ter substitutes. candles and wakes.
II also Is burned In miners lamps. and
used by packers OF fruit, olives. sar-
dimes and vegetables
From linters are made bakelite
for radio panels. non-shatterable
glass, rayon for dress goods, stock