264 



WILD AND CULTIVATED COTTONS 



Perennial 



stocks. 



attained a height of 8 to 12 or even 16 feet, (b) None of them were 

 noted for producing a staple of an exceptional length, (c) They 

 were not then regarded as by any means the best cottons. In fact 

 the cotton most highly esteemed and most frequently cultivated was 

 Guiana or Brazilian kidney cotton. Lastly (d) the seeds were not 

 completely naked. 



It is impossible to believe therefore that any of the forms 

 described by Eohr, which I place under G. vitifolium, and the others 

 which I have carried to G. peruvianum, could have had a floss of two 

 inches in length, since had a staple existed so much above and 

 beyond all the others as that, it would certainly have called for very 

 special consideration. Indeed from Dr. Dunkan's report of his visit 

 to Scotland it would almost appear as if, at that period, length was 

 less important than purity and fineness. 



In the Danish and all the other islands of the Lesser Antilles, 

 between 10 to 20 N., cotton could be grown throughout the year. 

 It was only when the high grade staples were carried beyond the 

 25 and up to the 34 N. latitude that it became imperative to possess 

 annual stocks that from sowing to harvest could mature their crops 

 within the hot summer months and be thus off the fields before the 

 frosts of winter supervened. 



Poiret (' Diet, des Scien. Nat.' vol. XL, 1818, pp. 55-7), in a long 

 article on the cultivation, &c., &c., of cotton a review more or less of 

 Levantine Eohr's opinions says in a concluding chapter on ' Trade ' that the 

 cottons are commercially divided into ' Island Cotton ' and ' Levantine 

 Cotton,' making thus, doubtless, a direct reference to the West 

 Indies. The former, he adds, is distinguished by such names as 

 Guadeloupe, Saint Domingo, Cayenne, Barbados, &c. The cotton 

 called ' Maragnan ' is considered as the best of the Island cottons ; 

 then comes Surinam, next Cayenne, then St. Domingo. Guadeloupe, 

 though inferior to those mentioned, is largely used in the manufac- 

 tures of Eouen. How much all this has changed is one of the 

 marvels of the modern cotton trade, and possibly we should look to 

 the Maragnan as having given the first direct indication of the 

 improvement of the special races of G. barbadense. 



It is unfortunate that no modern writer can be discovered who 

 has described with as much detail as Eohr did, a century ago, the 

 forms of this particular species that are at present grown and the 

 methods pursued in their cultivation, in the Antilles and in South 

 America. 



West 



Indian 



verstis 



