Show f ok A A 3 bale shipment of alabama cotton ered by geographic society v D r anu servia r l io 0 DATE the alie federal government T j has rented in alabama alone in 1 the he cotton reduction campaign acres representing a portion of the holdings of land owners who have signed contracts nith ith the government to eliminate the acreage from froin cotton production cotton prices cotton surpluses cotton production consumption and export figures and new wes uses of cotton keep americas best known fiber constantly in the public eye why the great public interest in cotton because about one tenth of the population of the united states and many more millions of people on every continent depend upon cotton for a livelihood and because it Is indispensable pen sable to modern civilization go where you will by any means of transportation in the civilized world and cotton will be your traveling companion step into an automobile and you are supported by tires containing cotton fabric you sit on upholstery hols tery that probably cont contains altis cotton thread and are krotec protected eted by a top to which cotton contributed or go yachting your ship no doubt will be equipped with cotton awnings hatch batch covers and linens or try to evade the fiber by climbing into an airplane you will discover that cotton fabric covers the airplane wings and that cotton dissolved in chemicals Is the dope that protects the wings from wind and weather the engineers of our railroad trains wear cotton overalls and the window shades and sent seat covers of modern passenger cars once were a part of the snowwhite snow white landscape of a cotton field even old dobbin still wears a cotton lined collar and the buggy he occasionally sio nally draws may have a cotton iop top and bits of imitation leather here and there that cotton helped produce cotton used everywhere stroll down slain main street of a modern town and cotton in many forms strolls with you yon pass men who wear cotton from their hat bands to the linings of their shoes in white black and all the colors of the rainbow you observe cotton ties hose shirts suits collars uniforms overcoats and shoe laces the feminine companions of the cotton clad men wear hats bats and dresses and carry umbrellas of cotton A glance at thousands of bolts of cloth on department store shelves reveals that between the time cotton leaves the plantation and reaches the retailer it assumes many disguises for instance it if you purchase calico cretonne corduroy or chintz you are buying cotton and the same goes for a long list ilet of textiles from apron cloth batiste and cambric through the alphabet to velveteen and volle voile in a typical american home cotton has earned the right to be called king of textiles step over the threshold and your foot may slight alight upon a cotton rug pictures hang on walls covered with cotton cloth you ton relax in a chair upholstered with cotton and listen to a phonograph record which contains cotton playing a recent blues song inspired by life in the southern cotton belt within eyeshot are cotton draperies window thades shades sofa cushions and chair and table covers in the dining room perhaps the table linen Is cotton or part cotton and cotton wicks protrude from artistically designed candles in the kitchen one may discover a cotton bag for crushing lee ice a cotton mop cotton wiping clothes and perhaps cotton had some part in the manufacture of the linoleum on the floor and the oilcloth on the table open the pantry door and again you find cotton one of the newest methods of packing small quantities of oranges potatoes and onions Is by the use of coarse mesh cotton bags of course the housewife long has bought sugar 11 salt alt and flour in cotton bags as well as cheese with cotton covering bedroom Is full of it perhaps the bedrooms contain more cotton than any other room to in the home cotton heets sheets pillow cases quilts and blankets tor for beds are widely y used while in mens and wardrobes are handkerchiefs underwear night clothes lounging and bath robes and house bouse slippers of cotton in the bathroom hang cotton towels and wash cloths claths and a cotton shower curtain and in the medicine cabinet Is fluffy cotton itself as well as bandage gauze on the bathing beach cotton bathing suits and shoes are seen at boxing boring matches boxers swing owing cotton padded gloves 9 loves at football games cot ton lined shoulder pads pada protest protect the players at the movies spectators view pictures projected from cotton made mada films tennis players wear cotton shoes on golf links cotton flags fly on every green and at the baseball park cotton covered bags mark three bases basea of 0 the diamond cotton bagging for cotton bales Is taking the place of jute bagging to a slight extent in some parts of the cotton belt builders of cement roads are covering green cement with cotton fabric instead of burlap engine builders use cotton packing oil re finers and chemists employ cotton filter cloth and cotton conveyor belts are popular in the baking and confectionery industry one who holds in his bis hand a pound of light fluffy cotton will find it difficult to realize that about such handfuls were produced on the worlds cotton plantations last year pressed into so called farmers farmer bales these handfuls would make about bales laid in contact on the ground like gigantic bricks they would make a solid cotton highway two and one fourth feet thick and nearly twenty eight feet w wide ide from boston to los angeles more than one halt half of the highway would be built of american cotton produced in our southern states and new mexico arizona and california indian cotton would build about ones one sixth of such buch a highway china cotton about one ninth russian cotton about on one e twelfth and farms of egypt brazil uganda and many minor producing regions of the world would furnish the remainder used in prehistoric times your tour guess as to where and when cotton originated la Is perhaps as good as that of anyone else museums display cotton fabrics used in prehistoric times long before the christian era the cotton fiber was popular among weavers and wearers bearers wear ers A book written about B 0 referred to the plant the romans made it popular in europe columbus noted that cotton grew abundantly in the west indies and other famous spanish and portuguese explorers found it growing and in use in mexico peru brazil and india in mexico it was the chief material used for making clothing when the spaniards arrived more afore than forty million acres or an area nearly as large as pennsylvania new jersey delaware arid and connecticut combined produces american cotton the seeds are planted in rows three to four feet apart when the plants are several inches tall the rows are hoed by hand and healthy plants 12 to 18 inches apart are left to develop at maturity the plants are virtually sturdy trees three to four feet bl high h the cotton flower Is snowwhite when the bud bursts later it chan changes chanes es through pink to red the red petals petal s fall leaving at their base a ut tle lie green boll slightly larger than it a pea the boll slowly swells to nearly the size of a golf ball then it ripens bursts open and in a day or two becomes a mass of fluffy white cotton ready to pick practically all cotton Is picked by hand but experiments are constantly being carried out to develop machinery to perform this work seed now a valuable product about two thirds of the weight ot of cotton direct from the fields Is seed and the remainder lint or fiber the latter adheres doggedly to the seed to separate them the raw cotton must most pass through a gin derived from engine the seeds drop into a chute which carries them to a seed room the lint Is taken by belt conveyers to presses where it Is squeezed into bales weighing approximately 50 0 pounds covered with cotton or jute bagging the bales then move to the cotton mills or into world corn com merce cotton seed was waste of the industry until after the civil war it was burned thrown aside to rot or shoveled into rivers this former waste material now Is worth about annually the seeds are ginned again so BO that the tiny adhering bits of cotton or lenters are removed cotton seed meal makes cattle food fertilizer and flour and meat substitutes for human consumption cotton seed oil Is used in shortening and an ingredient of some eoma soaps cosmetics artificial leathers oilcloths roofing butter substitutes candles and waxes it also Is burned in miners lamps and used by packers of fruits olives sardines and vegetables from flinters ar are e made bakelite tor for radio panels non glass rayon for dress goods stockings and underwear and a long list of other products that chemistry has given to world commerce la in recent years |