The photo is from a cotton field about 4.5 miles down the road from my little place going toward town. (Richlands, NC). It was taken mid to late July after them white and purple cotton flowers had made green and purple speckled cotton bolls that bloomed into balls of white cotton and inflating to their fullness for picking when the foliage died off. (Often chemically defoliated.) Cotton picking time in eastern NC is mid to late October. Now (November), the farmers are doing their final harvest of the growing season, which is soy beans.

Cotton has to bud, flower, form bolls, bloom, then inflate and the plant defoliate before harvest. The inflation doesn’t stop there! Cotton prices have increased over the past five or six years, but more so lately as the cost of everything to produce it has suffered inflation too, just like them balls of cotton, but their inflation is a good thing. It’s been drier than usual in eastern NC this year and the harvest was a good one, because too much rain will get them cotton balls a rotten.

How is cotton picked?

Picking and a grinning in them air conditioned combines.

Getting the Pickens out of the field.

Tractor cab air conitioned too!

Dumping the pickens in the block compactor.

Remotely controlled from an air conditioned cab!

Blocks are them numbered and tops covered with a tarp awaiting their turn to go to the cotton gin.

Cool job huh?

Found a good video from the down under. They like John Deer equipment too! Like cotton farmers here down east.

&

They all run on Diesel!

{See yesterday’s post.}

Them cotton balls up close.

First, Cotton flowers to form bolls.

A cotton boll before bloom.

What happens inside the boll?

Not the only pestilence cotton suffers!

Control is a must needs!

The cottom boll begins blooming.

Too much rain, them cotton balls gets a rotten!

White rose of the south?

Sure glad they take them thorns out before making them fruit of the loom underwear!

If yawl think inflation is all about money, guess what?

It’s printed on cotton too!

The more printed, the more cotton needed!

****

For cotton in prophecy, see:

Missing Links – Appendix IV in main menu.

****

Educational and humorous!?

Hope all this takes a little bit of the sticker shock out next time yawl need some new socks, towels, bed linens and t-shirts.

Oh, them underdraws too!

And there’s a sweet old song that goes:

LOLGB+