My Turn

I love cotton. I come from three generations of cotton folks, but not on the farming side. Both sets of my grandparents worked in central Alabama cotton mills — Avondale Mills to be exact. My father’s parents worked in the Pell City mill, and my mother’s parents worked in the Sylacauga mill. The tradition of working in cotton mills continued ... Read More »

I’ve always enjoyed reading “My Turn” for the personal insights and common experiences shared by those of us associated with cotton. While cotton experiences serve as the warp of these personal stories, the weft is always enriched by individuals who color and give texture to the fabric of our individual lives. Most often they are relatives who help shape our ... Read More »

Although I was born in the suburbia of our nation’s capital, my parents shouldn’t have been surprised I ended up in agriculture. My dad grew up on a subsistence farm in Pennsylvania, and mom’s grandfather owned the only gin in Leslie, South Carolina. After my parents got engaged, the U.S. Department of Agriculture transferred my father, who worked for the ... Read More »

Motor Cooking & Other Reflections I began scouting cotton in 1978 after my dear grandmother saw an ad in the local newspaper soliciting cotton scouts to work for the Phillips County, Ark., Cooperative Extension Service. After working there for three summers, I began managing the insecticide screening plots at the Cotton Branch Experiment Station in Marianna. Upon graduating from the ... Read More »

Ray began checking cotton in 1949 as a college student. After we married in 1952 and he served in the Navy for two more years, Ray set up a consulting business and started knocking on doors. Franklin Parish was the largest “cotton patch” in Louisiana so that’s where we went. We moved to Wisner because his first customer lived there. ... Read More »

After many years of being asked by One Grower staff for a My Turn article, I relented and will try to give you readers some things to ponder. I spent my career as a research entomologist with the University of Tennessee, Ciba-Geigy and FMC. These ventures put me in contact worldwide with some very important and impressionable people. However, before ... Read More »

When it comes to working in the cotton industry — and cotton ginning in particular — you either immerse yourself in it, or you just get a little wet and move on. I would be one of those “immersion” types. This industry gets in your blood. It becomes not only a job, but also a vocation. But where does that ... Read More »