C OTTON is the fabric of civilization. It has built up peoples, and has riven them apart. It has brought to the world vast and permanent wealth. It has enlisted the vision of statesmen, the genius of inventors, the courage of pioneers, the forcefulness of manufacturers, the initiative of merchants and shipbuilders, and the patient toil of many millions. A whole library could be written on the economic aspects of cotton alone. It could be told in detail, how and why the domination of the field of

W E have seen (page 5 ) that the world’s cotton crop is produced chiefly by the United States, with 56%; India, with 17%; China, with 13- 1 / 2 %; Egypt and Russia with 4- 1 / 2 %, the remaining 4- 1 / 2 % being made up by Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Turkey, Persia, Japan, and several other countries. Primitive Methods of Growing in India India is the first country wherein, so far as we have record, the growing of cotton reached the stage of an industry. There conditions are almost ideal, apparently,

B ECAUSE of the ramifications of the cotton industry, the cotton itself, on its devious way from planter to consumer, is successively the concern of a series of individuals and corporations. The immense value of the product, the expense of growing, handling, manufacturing, and selling it all mean that great quantities of capital are utilized in bringing it at last to its final consumer. At any stage of the process, cotton represents no inconsiderable part of the nation’s wealth, and to expedite

T HE output of the manufacturer finds its way to the ultimate consumer through a variety of channels. What these are will depend upon the manner in which the various mills are organized, and their respective policies as to the marketing of their products. Some mills, usually very large organizations, will have plants completely equipped, in every department, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing, etc., and will process all of their goods themselves in every detail, offering them on the

N O industry shows better than the cotton industry the economic importance of banking service. No industry, perhaps, utilizes to such a complete extent the modern instruments of credit, nor is so dependent upon these instruments for its proper functioning. At no point in the progress from seed to cloth is the capital represented by the cotton necessarily or even customarily tied up. And not only may the cotton itself at any stage be the basis of credit accommodation, but also, the actual added v

W E have seen that the American cotton grower supplies more than half of the world’s demand for raw cotton. The cotton manufacturer in the United States is in no such position. This is not to say that American cotton goods are not exported in very considerable amounts. From the inception of the industry in this country varying percentages of the total product have been sent abroad. The following table, taken from the United States Statistical Abstract (1910) shows the average annual exports of c

E ARLY in the spring, the farm hands begin the work of getting the seed beds ready. Upland fields have to be terraced, ditched, and drained by an elaborate process before the work is well begun. Plowing and sub-soiling are the least of the planter’s worries. He must often chop last year’s stalks with a disc harrow or with a stalk cutter. The spike tooth or the disc harrow must work again after the plowing is finished. It is customary to plant cotton in a slightly raised bed, in order that thinni

T HE manufacture of cotton cloth may be divided into five departments: Before the cotton fiber can be spun into the yarn from which the cloth is woven, the bales must be broken open, the impurities removed, and the fibers arranged so that they are parallel and contain no bunches or tangles. Care in these processes has become more and more necessary and important as the demand for a higher quality of cloth, possessing greater strength and evenness, has been developed. Hence, some of the most elab

F OLLOWING the manufacture of the cloth, come the operations necessary to prepare it for the market. These involve such treatments as bleaching, printing, mercerizing, dyeing, and finishing (in the narrow sense). The number of machines involved in these various processes rivals the number which are used in the actual spinning and weaving operations. Modern bleaching is a highly technical science, conceived and planned by engineers, and carried out with elaborate machinery by skilled workers. Gra