284 



WILD AND CULTIVATED COTTONS 



Rivers Sea 

 Island. 



Qualifica- 

 tions. 



High 

 counts. 



Quality 

 and clean- 

 liness. 



the healthy plants was marked and its seeds specially preserved. 

 These were next year sown in a badly infected plot of land, rows of 

 the supposed immune stock alternating with ordinary seed. Any 

 plants in the special rows of selected stock that showed disease were 

 at once uprooted and the seed of the best and most healthy plants 

 preserved. In this way the Department of Agriculture, in co-opera- 

 tion with Mr. E. L. Eivers, of James Island, S.C., have produced 

 several distinct races of wilt-resistant plants. In 1902 sufficient 

 seed had been obtained to sow 15 acres with resistant seed. Similar 

 experiments were conducted with ' Upland ' in addition to the ' Sea 

 Island,' so that within the past few years great progress has been 

 made in the development of superior grade resistant stocks. 



Conditions to be observed in Selection. It is held that the stems 

 of the most desirable plants should not exceed 4 to 5 feet, and the 

 branches should spring from near the ground and be fairly uniformly 

 distributed throughout. The main branches should carry many 

 laterals, composed of short internodes, in order to secure facility in 

 picking. The bolls should be fairly long in shape and should open 

 completely, so as to discover the cotton free from leaf and other im- 

 purities, but the lint should not become suspended, since it might fall 

 to the ground and get blown about in the wind and thus impregnated 

 with dust, dirt and leaf. High winds during the maturing stage are 

 undesirable, and where such prevail the cultivation of this particular 

 cotton may have to be abandoned or guarded against by the special 

 selection of stock with capsules that do not open out to the extent to 

 allow of the separation and drifting of the lint. With moderate winds 

 protection may be afforded by the provision of hedges on the wind- 

 ward side of the field. 



The Staple. As grown in the United States, the staple ranges 

 from 1 to 2| inches in length. It is used for all the higher counts 

 namely, from 120s up to 450s or more. But it is also the strongest 

 cotton : hence where strength is specially desired, Sea Island cotton 

 is resorted to as, for example, for sail-cloths, linings of pneumatic 

 tyres, &c., and high-class goods such as gloves, laces, &c. It is thus 

 the most expensive cotton, and that being so quality is not the only 

 consideration scrupulous cleanliness is quite as essential to success. 

 The greatest care is therefore taken in handling, in ginning with 

 roller gins (not saw-gins), and in light bailing so as to avoid breaking 

 or discolouring the cells. Selection with a view to obtain uniformity 

 of length is another criterion of much importance. Lastly, the lint 



