The Cotton Belt of North Carolina

Abstract

_FROM earliest times cotton has been one of the principle agricultural crops of North Carolina. The acreage of farmland devoted to cotton increased steadily from 390,000 in 1866 to a peak of 1,817,000 in 1926. Since 1926 a decrease in cotton acreage has taken place at an exceedingly rapid rate, with over a million acres being taken out of cotton production in thirteen years. Because of more favorable conditions for competing cash crops, especially tobacco, this reduction in cotton acreage has been more drastic in the eastern part of the state than in the south western Piedmont. Cotton requires about 200 frostless days during the growing season, a good summer rainfall without too great an excess of rain, a uniformly warm summer without too excessive heat and bright sunshine. These climatic conditions prevail over a large part of the state except in the north central section and the western mountain region. The great variety of soils developed within North Carolina lend themselves to the production of cotton, provided the soils are well drained. Seventy-five of the one hundred counties in the state grow some cotton, giving the general impression of widespread suitability of physical conditions for the growth of this crop. Actually, only one fifth of the state's crop land or about four per cent of its total land area is devoted to the production of cotton. The Cotton Belt, the area within which more than ninety per cent of the state's cotton is grown, can be divided into two sections, the western and eastern areas. The limits of the western region are determined to a great degree by physical conditions, while the eastern section is largely determined by both physical and economic conditions. Mountains and hills form the limit of the Cotton Belt in Polk, Rutherford, Cleveland, and Catawba Counties. Eastward, soil and economic conditions form the boundary of this agricultural crop. Throughout Iredell, Davie, Rowan, and Cabarrus Counties, red clay loams derived from fine-textured granites are a little heavy for good cotton production. The same is true in Stanly, Montgomery, and Richmond Counties, where fine-textured soils have been derived from slates. The porous Sand Hill Belt in Montgomery and Richmond Counties is practically devoid of cotton production and divides the state's Cotton Belt into two separate regions. From this line southward to the South Carolina State line lies the south western Piedmont cotton area. The eastern region of the Cotton Belt is confined chiefly to the western half of the Coastal Plain and parts of the eastern Piedmont. The western limit of this region coincides with the Sand Hill Belt found in parts of Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland, and Harnett Counties, while the eastern boundary is limited by swamp and poorly drained soils in eastern Robeson, southern Sampson, and Duplin Counties. North of Harnett and Duplin Counties, physical conditions exert less influence in limiting the Cotton Belt, for soil and climatic conditions are generally favorable to cotton produc-