B. 1*. 1.-517. 



ORIGIN OF THE HINDI COTTON. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Hindi is the name applied in Egypt to an undesirable type of cot- 

 ton with a short, weak fiber, that injures the high-grade Egyptian 

 varieties b}^ infesting them with hybrids. The skill and cheapness 

 of the native Egyptian labor enable the exporters to have the cotton 

 sorted by hand in their baling establishments, so that a high rejjuta- 

 tion for uniformity has been secured in spite of the Hindi admixture. 



The introduction of the Egyptian cotton into the United States 

 brings also the problem of the Hindi cotton, but without the resource 

 of cheap labor which enables the difficulty to be surmounted in Egypt. 

 The practicability of establishing a commercial culture of the Egyp- 

 tian cotton in the United States depends largely upon the elimination 

 of the Hindi contamination and other forms of diversity, so that the 

 fiber may be produced in a satisfactory condition of uniformity. The 

 Hindi cotton problem might be compared to that of the red rice that 

 mixes with the white and depreciates the value of the crop. In the 

 case of the cotton there is a better prospect that adequate knowledge 

 of the vegetative characters may enable the undesirable plants to be 

 removed from the fields without too seriously increasing the cost of 

 production. 



DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS OF THE HINDI COTTON. 



The Hindi cotton usually appears more vigorous and robust than 

 the adjacent Egyptian plants by reason of the larger number of vege- 

 tative branches developed from the lower nodes of the central stalk. 

 The vegetative branches also take a more nearly upright position, 

 rendering the plants more compact and bushy in their general shape, 

 as well as more densely leafy. The leaves are much thinner in tex- 

 ture than those of the Egyptian cotton and of a lighter and more yel- 

 lowish green. The difference is particularly striking in Arizona, 

 where the Egyptian cotton usually is of a very dark grajdsh or bluish 

 green. The lateral lobes appear very short and broad in comparison 

 with the Egyptian cotton, or even with many of our Upland varie- 



[Cir. 42] 3 



