WILD AND CULTIVATED 

 COTTON PLANTS 



INTRODUCTION 



Scope of the Work. This account of ' The Wild and Cultivated 

 Cotton Plants of the World ' has been written on the basis of the 

 species of Gossypium as they can be accepted botanically, but with 

 the distinct object of aiding cultivation. 



During a residence in India of some thirty years I had many 

 opportunities of studying the subject practically. As Reporter on 

 Economic Products to the Government of India it became, more- 

 over, my official duty to travel over that vast country, from one end 

 to the other, and, while moving from village to village, to study 

 practically the resources of the Empire. A fair proportion of my 

 time was not unnaturally devoted to the subject of cotton, and my 

 collections and notes soon became voluminous. But as that study 

 advanced from year to year I found many occasions not only to 

 arrive at conclusions opposed to those held by some of my pre- 

 decessors, but to modify or abandon views previously entertained, 

 and even published, by myself. I mention these particulars as 

 disposing once and for all of any change of ground that may be 

 detected, but more especially with a view to exemplify the extreme 

 complexity of the task of solving the varieties, races, and hybrids 

 of a plant so much cultivated as cotton. Let me hasten, therefore, 

 to add that I cannot hope to have even now attained finality ; but 

 shall be abundantly satisfied if I have succeeded in throwing 

 out suggestions that may tend to elucidate practical results, both 

 commercially and botanically. 



It need hardly be here stated that cotton has been cultivated 

 from prehistoric times, and accordingly that the origins of some 

 of the chief commercial stocks can be but conjecturally ascertained. 

 Moreover, cotton cultivation originated and is pursued within the 



B 



