WOMAN IRONING. BLACK AND WHITE. "CLOTHES COME FROM COTTON CLOTH."

DESCRIBES WHY SOUTHERN US GROWS MOST COTTON IN UNITED STATES. KNOWN AS THE COTTON BELT. DISCUSSES AS HOW IT DEVELOPED. PLANTATIONS DEVELOPED WHERE TREES WERE CUT DOWN. ANIMATED CARTOONS SHOWING GROWTH OF COTTON IN SOUTHERN US. BROUGHT IN "LABORERS" FROM OTHER COUNTRIES THAT WORKED ON FIELDS.

AFTER CIVIL WAR, FARMERS WERE TOO POOR TO OWN LAND. CORN AND CROPS TO FEED PEOPLE AND ANIMALS, BUT COTTON REMAINED TO BE THE POPULAR CROP. HEAVY RAINS OFTEN WASHED AWAY SOIL. FARMERS USED FERTILIZER TO TRY AND ENRICH SOIL. THEN A BEETLE FROM MEXICO CAME AND ESSENTIALLY DESTROYED THE CROPS IN THE AREA. MANY FARMS LEFT THE FARMS BECAUSE OF POOR SOIL AND THE UNKNOWN MARKET PRICE THEY WOULD RECEIVE FOR THEIR CROPS. THEY MOVED TO THE CITIES.

LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IS STILL FAIRLY PRODUCTIVE TO THIS DAY (1960s) IN PRODUCING COTTON. AERIAL VIEW OF FIELDS. DISCUSSES HOW THE FIELDS ARE LAID OUT AND HOW FARMERS PLANT. CHEMICALS SPRAYED ON PLANTS TO PROTECT FROM BEETLES AND SO THE LEAVES OF BULBS WILL FALL OFF TO MAKE FOR EASIER PICKING. SENT TO GINS TO SEPARATE FIBERS AND BALE THEM. OTHER CROPS ARE CULTIVATED ON THIS LAND AND HELP THE LOCAL ECONOMIES. IN THIS SAME AREA, ARE THE DEALERS OF GASOLINE, FUEL OIL, AND FERTILIZER. MEMPHIS' GROWTH THANKS TO COTTON.

SOME COTTON IS GROWN IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. MOST OF THE COTTON IS STILL PICKED BY HAND. DISCUSSES PROCESS OF CULTIVATING COTTON HERE. RAISING OF LIVESTOCK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE COTTON. PEACH PRODUCTION IS ALSO HUGE. CHICKEN PRODUCTION IN GEORGIA PIEDMONT AREA. TEXTILE INDUSTRY GREW AND DEPENDS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION OF COTTON. OTHER FACTORIES CREATE RAYLON, NYLON, ETC. STEEL FACTORIES ARE ALSO IN AREA OF BIRMINGHAM.

SUMMARY OF HISTORY OF COTTON IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES AND ITS ECONOMIC EFFECT ON THESE REGIONS. END OF CLIP.