Abstract: The author discusses the origins and development of the cotton industry in colonial Zimbabwe between 1903 and 1935. The author states that the period from 1903 to 1935 was one in which the white settler farmers, with the encouragement and assistance of the British and the Rhodesians and Southern Rhodesian governments attempted to establish the cotton industry in the country. Moreover, the years 1903 to 1923 were largely of experimentation with the new crop and the repeated failures suffered with the crop during this period just indicated the problems that had to be overcome before the cotton industry could be established on a commercial basis. In addition, the 1923/24 season experienced a ‘cotton boom’, which saw renewed efforts being rejected by all parties concerned in a bid to see the industry established on a permanent footing.