Cotton Industry
The Cotton Industry Cotton is the soft white downy fiber that grows in the seed pods of the cotton plant, used for making textiles. ... Cotton is produced by small trees and shrubs of a genus belonging to the mallow family. Samuel Slater was an American cotton producer, recognized as founder of the cotton industry in the United States and as a pioneer of the factory system. Born in Belper, England, Slater was apprenticed at the age of 14 to the British inventor of cotton-spinning machinery, Sir Richard Arkwright.