Cotton 
UNITED STATES 
AND CANADA 
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Fic. 4. Being tropical in its origin, the cotton plant requires a higher temperature than do the 
cereal crops, as well as a longer growing season. It grows best where the summer temperature 
averages at least 77°. Comparison of Figure 4 with Figure 5 shows that the bulk of the cotton 
crop is raised south of the line which marks an average temperature of K0° in July. 
Farmers found cotton a more profitable crop than before and grew 
more of it. Since the invention of the gin, cotton has become the 
clothing of almost all the world. The story of cotton shows how the 
invention of even a single machine may affect the occupations and 
habits of many people in all parts of the world. 
Why cotton growing is limited to certain parts of the United 
States. In order to produce abundant fiber the cotton plant requires 
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Fig. 5. The eastern and western boundaries of the cotton region are determined largely by the 
rainfall (Fig. 6). Notice the three areas of especially heavy production: (1) the uplands bor- 
dering the Atlantic coastal plains; (2) the level river lands along the Mississippi in Tennessee, 
Mississippi, and Arkansas; (3) the plains of east central Texas. Some cotton is now grown in the 
irrigated areas of southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, where soil and climate are suit- 
able but rainfall is lacking. Cotton is the second crop in the country in money value, corp 
atandine first in this respect. (Agriculture Yearbook, 1921. UU. 8. Department of Agriculture.)