Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/410

 394 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

rivers crossing from the hard rocks of the Appalachian belt to the softer rocks of the coast plain have formed falls and rapids.

Certain advantages have been pointed out as belonging to the southern states in the manufacture of cotton. Not only have they the advantage of raw cotton at their doors, but they have also cheap fuel and cheap labor.

Some conception of the growth in the cotton industry can be gained from the fact that, while in 1880 there were 180 factories, in 1900 there 663. In 1902, 130,000 looms and 6,250,000 spin- dies were running. It is to be noted that, like some of the New England mills, so nearly all the southern mills are in the hands of New York commission houses, and that a general movement exists toward a combination or a cotton trust. 18

In entering the cotton industry the South has thus far con- fined itself almost exclusively to the making of the coarser, heavier qualities of cotton goods drills, shirtings, and sheet- ings. For the manufacture of the finer grades of cotton a certain amount of skilled labor is necessary. Hence has grown up a demand for one phase of industrial training. The textile school has risen to meet this want.

Second as a factor in southern industrial life is the awakening of the iron industry. This centers chiefly around Birmingham, Ala. In this district, within a small radius, are found, not alone the iron ore, but also the coke-making coal and limestone essential for the process of iron-smelting. This reduces greatly the cost of iron-making. As the industry has developed, the demand for skilled iron-workers has arisen, and schools furnishing courses in mining and engineering have appeared.

Finally, the South is becoming conscious of the need of better and more scientific methods in farming, and the agricultural college has grown up as a result.

One of the most striking facts, then, in southern education at the present time is the rapid increase of technical and industrial schools to meet the demand of the recent economic development. There are in the South twenty-eight agricultural and mechanical colleges, three state schools of technology or mining, six local

"T. If. YOUWG. Tkt American Cotton Industry, p. 119.