﻿138 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  refuse 
  accumulations 
  into 
  the 
  adjacent 
  streams 
  killed 
  

   the 
  fish. 
  Those 
  in 
  Second 
  Creek, 
  previously 
  abounding 
  

   in 
  trout 
  and 
  perch, 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  were 
  destroyed 
  in 
  this 
  way. 
  

   It 
  is 
  not 
  surprising, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  

   indigo 
  was 
  abandoned 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years, 
  and 
  gave 
  way 
  to 
  

   that 
  of 
  cotton, 
  so 
  remarkable 
  for 
  its 
  freedom 
  from 
  the 
  

   disagreeable 
  concomitants 
  of 
  tobacco 
  and 
  indigo 
  culture, 
  

   and 
  comparatively 
  so 
  light, 
  neat, 
  and 
  agreeable 
  in 
  its 
  

   handling. 
  

  

  THE 
  COTTON 
  PLANT, 
  ITS 
  ORIGIN 
  AND 
  YARIETIES, 
  

   AND 
  ITS 
  ENEMIES 
  AND 
  DISEASES. 
  

  

  The 
  cotton 
  plant, 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  generic 
  term 
  Gossypium 
  

   has 
  been 
  applied 
  by 
  botanists, 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  order 
  Polyandria, 
  

   belonging 
  to 
  the 
  Monadelphia 
  class 
  of 
  plants.'^ 
  

  

  Although 
  comparatively 
  of 
  recent 
  introduction 
  here, 
  

   the 
  cotton 
  plant 
  was 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  earliest 
  ages 
  in 
  the 
  

   Old 
  World. 
  

  

  Herodotus 
  describes 
  the 
  plant 
  as 
  "producing 
  in 
  the 
  

   Indies 
  a 
  wool 
  of 
  finer 
  and 
  better 
  quality 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  

   sheep." 
  

  

  Pliny 
  mentions 
  certain 
  "wool-bearing 
  trees 
  which 
  

   were 
  known 
  in 
  Upper 
  Egypt, 
  bearing 
  a 
  fruit 
  like 
  a 
  gourd 
  

   of 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  quince, 
  which, 
  bursting 
  when 
  ripe, 
  dis- 
  

   plays 
  a 
  ball 
  of 
  downy 
  wool 
  from 
  which 
  are 
  made 
  costly 
  

   garments 
  resembling 
  linen." 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  era, 
  it 
  had 
  

   become 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  commerce 
  in 
  the 
  ports 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  

   Sea; 
  and 
  the 
  remote 
  provinces 
  of 
  India 
  had 
  at 
  that 
  early 
  

   period 
  acquired 
  a 
  celebrity 
  for 
  their 
  cotton 
  fabrics. 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Plates 
  III. 
  and 
  IV. 
  

  

  