In Southern California, a Cotton Industry Fades - New York Times- California News
Pest infestations in recent decades caused a decline in cotton acreage, and the decline accelerated as fuel costs soared and urban centers like San Diego, about 90 miles to the west, pushed for a larger share of the state’s stretched water supply. Cotton is a water intensive crop, and the fields here are irrigated by canals that draw from the Colorado River, the source of drinking water for much of Southern California. His skills were honed in the long season of planting, weeding, watching and waiting for the bolls — the so-called fruit of the cotton plant — to swell with lint. But a cotton plant reveals its mood in the number and spacing of its branches and the placement of its flowers. The Dahms could stand on the green carpet in their living room here and, looking out the window, see acres of cotton flowers in a field turn from purple to yellow to white over the course of a season. But the growth of textile mills in countries like China and India and improvements in mill technology mean buyers now look to lower quality — and less expensive — lint and rely on mills to make up the difference. More California News
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