Cotton was and still is a viable crop plant, it primarily provided the South with a monetary advantage over several parts of the United States, and as for me... it created my family. My grandmother would never leave the small town of Moultrie, Georgia for a new life in South Florida, she was tired of picking cotton and knew there were better prospects. Even though cotton is an essential part of our daily clothing, there were painful memories regarding my descendants' cotton picking. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all picked cotton by hand, and as a child, listening to their stories, I had a negative connotation of the harvest, however there is more to cotton than I understand. Cotton is not only a universal crop, but has a universal name, according to the source, Natural History and Commercial History of Cotton by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the main title of cotton is gossypium. The source explains that this genus belongs to the Monadelpha class of Linnaeus, and to the usual order of Malvaceae plants. Cotton has very distinct characteristics: “It is characterized by three long and deeply incised segments into which its external calyx is divided; by its large and beautiful five-petaled flowers, of a yellow, orange or reddish colour, with or without a central spot of a deeper hue...” (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce 139). Cotton has numerous stamens which are amalgamated in many different ways, some including the base of the stamen, either by single style which includes three to five stigmas, or by its seeds which have several contained in each. The source further delves into the characteristics of...... half of the document ......little effort and the growing political conflict between neighboring countries, it seems impossible. “Its soil is extremely fertile and well-watered, with every variety of agricultural and mineral wealth to promote development. Its climate is almost perfect, and it is one of the few tropical lands where cotton can live and grow…” (Hogan 899). The source states that some countries have prospered from cotton production, such as Uganda and Nigeria, but other countries have rarely prospered. Cotton is not only used in clothing, towels, and jeans, but is also used in fishing nets, curtains, coffee filters, paper, socks, and is used as padding for car seats, pillows, and furniture. Basically I wear cotton and involuntarily I see it and use it habitually. I am often unaware of its importance in my life, but so it is truly the “fabric of our lives”.”.