Cotton Tycoon, Timber Magnate, Oil Baronnes

     Today, I toured the Graves’ Cotton Corporation Gin at Hargrave’s Corner in Rector. The facility turns out a huge bale of cotton every 2 minutes and 32 seconds.  Over the course of 7 years, I have learned about cotton fields, planting, irrigation, module trucks and we have stopped in Monette to examine a monster cotton picking machine. My formal Christmas tree uses ribbon and cotton bolls as accents. But, today, I witnessed a module expelled from the truck onto rolling pins and gazed as it moved along the conveyer to the place where the process of pulling the trash, hulls, and stray stems begins.  Loud is an understatement inside the gin. The sharp teeth of one of the initial processors separate the fiber from the seed.  And it all goes from there into a strapped bale, it’s inserted into a sleeve marked with the familiar 100% Cotton logo, and loaded onto a palate for market.  It’s a fascinating journey.

      As a young girl, I was afforded the pew-y opportunity to tour the International Paper’s mill in Camden. From pine timber billets to brown paper bags, I witnessed the process of turning pulp into paper. We had timberland in south Ouachita County and northern Union County, on “Auntie’s Place” so our family was interested in timber and Daddy aspired to be a mogul.  No matter how loudly the merchants in Camden proclaimed smoke-stacks which billowed clouds of stink to belch the smell of money, my little girlfriend circle practiced holding our breaths from Fairview to Duck Inn as we drove into Camden from the south.

     While Auntie’s Place had timber, there was also oil nearby. Never have I witnessed a gusher. Rarely do I cash a BIG royalty check, since our family’s portions have been divided now by multiple shares.  Oil companies are reopening wells in South Arkansas, and while I am not anticipating a gusher, it would be OH, So Nice!

     Set in East Texas, the novel Roses spans generations resulting in a fabulous saga involving a cotton tycoon (female) and a timber magnate (male). Their love story, decisions, heartaches, and tragedies complicate multiple lives, not unlike GWTW.  I’d highly recommend Leila Meacham’s novel. She is a former teacher and she lives in Texas.  Find it reviewed in the column to the right.