22 AREANGEMENT OF PARTS IN THE COTTON PLANT. 



^vilh the generally constant number of bracts, calyx lobes, and petals, 

 the number of carpels is always varied, even among the flowers of 

 the same plant. No variety of cotton is kno^vn to have a constant 

 number of carpels. In Upland cotton four-locked and five-locked 

 bolls are the rule; in EgA^ptian and Sea Island varieties the bolls are 

 three locked and four locked. Three-locked bolls are occasionally 

 found in Upland cotton, and two-locked bolls in Egyptian. Six- 

 locked bolls are of rare occurrence. Abnormal bolls \vith still larger 

 numbers of locks result from fasciation, especiallj^ in the "cluster" 

 varieties of Upland cotton. 



When the number of carpels is less than five it does not appear 

 that they have any regularity of arrangement with reference to other 

 parts of the flower, but when five carpels are present they appear to 

 stand in alternation with the lobes of the staminal column and the 

 petals and opposite the calyx lobes. The stigmas are not usually 

 tmsted, but sometimes they are bent in the direction taken by the 

 stamens and petals. 



AKRANGEMENT OF THE HAIRS ON THE SURFACE OF THE SEED 



COAT. 



Although not to be considered in detail in the present paper, the 

 distribution of the hairs on the surface of the cotton seed is another 

 subject worthy of study from the standpoint of position and arrange- 

 ment. In most of the chfTerent species and varieties of cotton the 

 seed produces two distinct kinds of hairs. The long hairs represent 

 the commercial fiber, or Hnt, and the shorter, finer hairs represent 

 the fuzz left on the seed after ginning. The fuzz may be white like 

 the hnt, but is often green or brown. If no fuzz is produced the seeds 

 are left black and naked after ginning. Naked-seeded variations are 

 quite common in some varieties of Upland cotton and are very 

 undesirable because the absence of fuzz is nearly alwaj^s accom- 

 panied by a serious reduction in the amount of lint. In a few cases 

 plants have been found with neither fuzz nor lint. Though the pres- 

 ence of fuzz seems to be correlated with abundance of lint, very fuzzy 

 seeds sometimes have very few of the long lint fibers; sometimes none 

 at all. 



In the Upland type of cotton the two kinds of hairs are mixed 

 together over the whole surface of the seed, but in other sorts there 

 are definite difTerences in the position of the hnt and fuzz. In the 

 Egyptian cottons there is a strong tendency to restrict the fuzz to 

 the ends of the seed and the lint to the intermediate position. A 

 peculiar form of Sea Island cotton found in a locality called San 



222 



