History of Cotton, Essay Example

Cotton is one of the main fiber crops of global significant and has a high commercial value. It is cultivated commercially in the regions with tropical temperature. According to Nicholson (23), the cultivation of cotton started more than 5,000 years ago. The first plantation of cotton took place in South America in Mexico where the first clothes made of cotton was discovered. It was also first grown in the Indus River Valley in Pakistan and used for making clothes 3,000 BC. And at almost the same period, Indigenous of Egypt’s Nile valleys were making clothes using cotton. However, Arabs brought clothes made of cotton to Europe 800A.D. and American discovered and started planting cotton in 1492, in the Bahama Islands.

It is said that cotton was cultivated in Florida in 1556 and state of Virginia in 1607. However, by 1616, American colonists were planting cotton along the James River in Virginia. As mentioned by Kantartzi (12), cotton was one of the cash crops grown by colonist and main activities of slaves during the slavery in America. It was rolled by the machinery 1730 in England, which was the beginning of the industrial revolution in England, and the period Americans started to make cotton gin in the United States. This opened ways for the start of the significant place which the cotton holds in the globe today.  Since then cotton has spread globally, and it is grown in over 100 countries. It is grown South America, Asia, and Africa both in small and large scale for commercial purpose.

In 1733, the Cotton Gin was discovered by Eli Whitney, to assist in the separation of cotton fiber from the seeds. It substantially made segregation of seeds from fiber very easy and faster which improved the quality of products which were being made using cotton. Furthermore, harvesting of cotton was also difficult because people used to use their bare hands in plucking cotton fiber, this used to cause more harm to workers (Maas 28). The plucking or harvesting machine was later discovered in the early 1800s to assist in harvesting cotton fiber from a larger plantation in America.

Cotton is grown a tropical climate region in as dry land depending on rainfall or as irrigated cotton. The planting season is during springs when the rain is available. It requires a moisture soil at the beginning of the season, rain falls and an extended period of heat with a very low humidity (Boychyn, Cerrudo and Clifton 23).      During winter the cotton has produced bugs, and it is the time pesticides are prayed and pest removed from the bugs. The harvest period is during autumn. The cotton seeds are planting when the soil has been prepared well, and it takes few weeks, approximately two weeks before it germinates. When Cotton germinates, it requires enough water, pesticides and weeding to remove weeds which can cause harm and prevent it from growing to maturity.

In conclusion, cotton has a wider history, and it has evolved from the time of its discovery. It is currently being planted in almost every country in the world and used for making clothes and other materials. Cotton is one of the significant contributors to the economic growth of most countries and makes a bulk of employment opportunity for many young and aged people from in Asia, both North and South America and Africa where people are still growing cotton in large scale.

Works Cited

Boychyn, Jeremy, et al. “The World Cotton History.” A Summary of Cotton Issues (2010): 5-35.

Kantartzi, Stella. “Growth And Production Of Cotton .” Crop, Soil And Environmental Sciences (2009): 5-35.

Maas, Susan. “Australian Cotton Production Manual.” Outlaw Cotton Volunteers On Your farm (2013): 5-35.

Nicholson, Edward. “The Production, History, Uses and Relationships of Cotton (Gossypium spp.) in Ethiopia.” The New York Botanical Garden (1960): 2-34 Vol. 14. 1.