An Old Southern Crop......

The girls and I were out walking this am when we found pile of waste on the side of the road.  I spied the white puffs....    It is a cotton plant that has grown here in the neighborhood.  This is where the cotton shirts, pants, socks and underwear is made from......
      I remember when I learned that cotton is a plant.  It used to be grown extensively in the south, as it loves the heat and rain as well the soil types we have here.   Then, the government decided to stop paying the farmers a stipend so they could afford to grow the crop and make enough money so they could live and pay their bills.  (The subsidies were transferred to peanut and soy bean, before that was canceled, to.)  
       Cotton is harvested and thrashed at the same time to get the seed out of the puffs.   The seed is used for the following year, the puffs are spun together in thread and then woven into the cloth that everything is made from.  The heavier the material, the heavier the thread (denim vs t-shirts).  For a very long, long time cotton was king.  I was really surprised to see  this plant today...   what a treat and a piece of history!