Modern Business Geography 
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UNITED STATES 
AND CANADA 
AVERAGE 
ERATURE 
in JANUARY 
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Fig. 3. The lines for 40° and 60° average temperature in January mark the general limits of the 
cotton-growing region in the United States. North of 40° to 42° farmers are never certain of a 
growing season of seven months free from frost. The southern boundary of the cotton belt is set at 
60° by the character of the soil rather than the temperature, for the cotton plant is a native of 
the tropics. 
25,000 to 100,000 pounds of fiber from the seed in a day. The gin 
consists of a revolving cylinder set with rows of saw teeth about half 
an inch apart. These catch the fiber and draw it through a comb so 
fine that the seeds cannot follow. 
It is amazing to see how speedily and handily the work of separat- 
ing the fiber is carried on. When the farmer draws up to the com- 
munity cotton gin with his open wagon filled with freshly picked 
cotton, suction tubes unload the fluffy mass and drop it upon a car- 
rying belt, which conveys it to the revolving cylinders. It takes only 
a few minutes for the saw teeth to draw the wagonload of fiber 
through the combs. Then the seeds are taken back to the wagon, 
while the cotton fiber is carried to the press to be pressed and bound 
into a bale weighing nearly five hundred pounds. A few minutes later 
the bale also is placed on the wagon, and both fiber and seed are 
soon on their way toward home or toward the railroad. Often the 
cotton gin is located at the railroad station to make transportation 
easy. 
With the invention of the cotton gin the price of the cleaned cotton 
fell greatly. As cotton cloth became cheaper, more people used it, 
and the people who had formerly used it wanted still more.