232 THE YEAK-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



domestic fowl, pointed at its extremity, expanding widely when fully mature, exhibiting a 

 brown, tough, woody, membraneous seed-vessel, sometimes horny in texture, to which the 

 expanded locks of fibre or lint adhere. 



The culture of cotton was introduced into China about the thirteenth century, and has ex- 

 tended largely ; the Nankin variety, especially, produced there, has acquired a wide notoriety, 

 forming a distinct fabric, which is even yet to some extent imported into the United .States. 



In 171 '• ' it was suggested that the climate of South Carolina was favorable for the produc- 

 tion of cotton, and the first Provincial Congress of that State in 1775, "recommended to the 

 people to raise cotton." Georgia is said, however, to have taken the lead in its cultivation; 

 yet the first shipment of cotton from the United States was in 1784, when eight bags were 

 seized by the custom-house officers at Liverpool, it not being credited that so small a quantity 

 as two thousand pounds had been raised in the United States. Seed was introduced jnto 

 Georgia from Jamaica and Pernambuco in 1786, but the cultivation of the Sea-Island variety 

 was not established until 1789. The Upland or the Georgia (bowed cotton) was successfully 

 introduced about the same time. 



Among the varieties of cotton most extensively cultivated, are the Sea-Island, the Upland, 

 the Tennessee green-seed, the Mexican, the Pernambuco, the Surinam, Demarara, and Egyp- 

 tian. The four first are the varieties most usually cultivated in the Southern States. 



The Sea-Island Cotton is superior to all others in length and firmness of fibre, and is on 

 that account in much request on the continent of Europe for delicate and costly fabrics, such 

 as laces, the finer muslins, &c. ; it bears a high price, generally thrice as much as the best 

 Upland, but being necessarily prepared for market with the roller gin, at a heavy cost of time 

 and labor, and being more difficult to gather, it is not more profitable, on the whole, than the 

 short staple. At one period the cultivation of the Sea-Island was confined to a string of islands 

 stretching from Georgetown, in South Carolina, to the St. Mary's River, in Georgia, a distance 

 of about two hundred miles, embracing a belt of coast not over fifteen miles wide. These 

 limits have, however, been considerably extended, and in Thomas county, Georgia, Sea-Island 

 cotton has been successfully grown for a long period, at a distance of one hundred and twenty- 

 five miles from the sea-coast. In the fertile counties of Middle and West Florida, more 

 Sea-Island cotton is grown than any other kind. 



The Upland Cotton, first cultivated at the South, differs from the Sea-Island in the color 

 of the blossom, the size or form of the boll or capsule, and in the length and fineness of the 

 staple. Both have smooth, black, naked seeds. .All other varieties seem to have a tendency 

 to return to this by long-continued cultivation. 



The Tennessee Cotton has a seed invested with a thick green down adhering firmly to it. 

 It is difficult to gather, hut to some extent superseded the Upland lor a few years, on account 

 of its freedom from rot, a disease with which the latter became infected. Both have, however, 

 in Mississippi, given way to the Mexican, which is now chiefly cultivated, or is the basis of all 

 the varietii- now in favor. 



The superiority of the Mexican consists in its vigorous growth, the size of the boll, and its 

 free expansion, affording a facility fur gathering by which three times the quantity above any 

 other cotton can be picked in a given time. The objections to it originally, which have now 

 been in a great degree corrected, were the coarseness of the staple, and the loss sustained by 

 its falling ont, if not speedily gathered. Like the Tennessee, the seeds, although larger, are 

 coated with a coarse, felt-like down, of a dingy white or brown color. The Mexican seel is 

 bauered to have Keen first Introduced into the South by the late Walter Burling, of Hatches. 

 It i- related that when, in ism;, be was -cut by General Wilkinson to the city of Mexico, on a 

 mission connected with a difficulty between the two countries respecting the western boun- 

 dary, that he dined with the viceroy, in the course of the conversation at the table respect- 

 ing the products of the country, he requested permission to import some of the Mexican 

 cotton-seed — a request that ^;i- not granted, on the ground that it was prohibited by the 

 Spanish government Hut the viceroy, over hi- wine, sportively aooorded hi- free permission 

 to take home with him a- many .'/• dean dotts u he might fancy : a permission w ell understood, 

 ami which in the tame vein u,i- accepted. The stuffing of these ilolls i- understood to have 



been cotton-seed. 



