ORIGIN OF THE HINDI COTTON. y 



Island series, and it is not impossible that a complete series of inter- 

 mediate types may yet be discovered in tropical America. 



Watt's recent assignment of the Egyptian cotton to another botan- 

 ical species {Gossypium peruvianum) instead of to the Sea Island spe- 

 cies {G. barhadense) should not be allowed to confuse the issue, for the 

 two types do not appear to have any essential differences to justify 

 such a separation. The range of diversity shown by the Eg}'ptian 

 cottons during the period of acclimatization leaves no doubt that they 

 are closely allied to the Sea Island cotton. There are individual 

 Egyptian plants, with lighter color and narrower lobes than usual, 

 that simulate the Sea Island cotton very closely, without any serious 

 departure from the usual Egyptian characteristics. The most pro- 

 nounced differences that sometimes appear to separate the two types 

 are the darker green color of the Egyptian foliage and the smaller 

 tendency of the Egyptian cotton to produce fertile branches on the 

 lower part of the plant. Both these characters are known to be easily 

 influenced b}^ external conditions and individual selection, as in the 

 Upland types of cotton. 



A planting of Sea Island cotton at Falfurrias, Tex., in the season 

 of 1909 showed several plants strikingly similar to Egyptian cotton, 

 much taller and less fertile than their neighbors, and with the coarser, 

 darker foliage and the relatively short buff lint of the Egyptian — ap- 

 parently complete reversions from the Sea Island to the Egyptian 

 type. Indeed, the approximation w^as in this instance so close as to 

 call for repetitions of the experiment to exclude every possibility 

 of admixture of seed. The same stock of Sea Island seed handled 

 in the same way at New Braunfels, Tex., produced none of the Egyp- 

 tian-like plants, but many similar cases have occurred where diversi- 

 ties have appeared in some places and not in others. Darker lint 

 accompanies darker foliage among the Egyptian plants as well as 

 among the Sea Island. The two series undoubtedly overlap, whether 

 they are capable of showing the same extremes or not. 



The question of the botanical name that should be applied to the 

 Hindi cotton may well be left open until more definite knowledge is 

 available regarding the botanical identity of other Mexican types. 

 The Hindi cotton may prove to be close to the original of Todaro's 

 Gossypium mexicamim, but may also be distinct, if Watt is correct 

 in referring our big-boll Upland varieties to that species. Todaro's 

 Gossypium mic7'ocarpum is another Mexican species to be considered 

 in the identification of the Hindi cotton, for some of the Mexican 

 relatives of the Hindi cotton show narrow-leaved forms that may 

 have furnished the originals of Todaro's species, though they have 

 no apparent relation to some of the varied types that Watt assembles 

 under this name. 



[Cir. 42] 



