

INDUSTRY, INVENTION, COMMERCE 



659 



feet, while others reach a height of fifteen or 

 twenty feet. Their leaves grow upon stalks 

 placed alternately upon the branches, and are 

 generally heart-shaped, and most commonly 

 either three- or five-lobed, with the lobes sharp 

 or rounded. The flowers are usually large and 

 showy, and grow singly upon stalks in the axils 

 of the leaves. They have a cup-shaped shortly 

 fi ve- toothed calyx, surrounded by a larger outer 

 calyx or involucel of three broad deeply-cut seg- 

 ments, joined together and heart-shaped at the 

 base; a corolla of five petals; many stamens 

 united into a central column; and a three or 

 five-celled ovary. The fruit is a three- or five- 

 celled capsule, which bursts open through the 

 middle or each cell when ripe, exposing the num- 

 erous seeds covered with the beautiful cellular 

 filaments known* under the name of cotton. 

 The seeds themselves contain a considerable 

 quantity of bland oil, which has been brought 

 greatly into use during the last few years; and 

 the cake formed by pressing the decorticated 

 seeds has proved a valuable food for cattle. 

 G. Barbadense is the species cultivated in the 

 United States, where two well-marked varieties 

 are recognized. First, the Sea Island or long- 

 staple cotton, which was introduced from the 

 Bahamas in 1785, and is only grown on the low 

 islands and sea-coast of Georgia and South Caro- 

 lina ; it is the most valuable kind, having a fine, 

 soft, silky staple from one and one-half to one 

 and three-fourths inches long, and is easily sepa- 

 rated from the seed. Second, Upland, Georgian, 

 Bowi-d, or short-staple cotton, which forms the 

 bulk of American cotton, and is the produce of 

 the upland or inland districts of the Southern 

 States; the staple is only one or one and one- 

 fourth inches long, and it adheres firmly to the 

 seed, which is also covered with short down. 

 Egyptian cotton, and the kind called Bourbon, 

 are likewise referable to this species. G. herba- 

 rcum is the indigenous Indian species, and yields 

 the bulk of the cotton of that country; it is also 

 grown in the south of Europe and other countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean, Persia, etc. 

 Its seeds are woolly and yield a very rthort-stapled 

 cotton. (',. iH-rnrltinum yields the cotton ex- 

 ported from Pernambuco, Bahia, and other parts 



/il, from Peru, etc. It is sometimes called 

 kidney cotton, on account of its seeds adhering 

 firmly together in the form of a kidney. The 

 of this country commences in August. 

 lasts till December. After being picked 

 and dri-d, the cotton is separated from the seeds 

 by means of machines railed <///ix. and is then 

 1 tly oompreoted into bales averaging about 

 pounds in weight. Two kit s are 



\\lntn.-y in 



and the roller-gin, the first consisting 

 of numerous circular saws revolving !> 

 iron griil-. bring u-i-d for tin- -hort-i 

 and the latter, which a pair of rollers, 



for the long-staple. The production of cotton 

 ii the United States has grown from l.n.'is.sl.x day. but they are all modifications of the original 



v',1 to I ; :M HH)7. Invention* 'Among these is the thrnsti, 



Cotton -nplnn In Jf, a term employed to |.\t-n-iin and simplification of the original -pin 

 rilx- in the aggregate all the opera ning-fram.-. introduced about the year iMu. 



vlv.-d j n transforming raw cotton into yarn. The fir-t machines set up in the I'nitrd States 

 : "spinning" ha- also a mop- limited wm- at Bad I't: Mass.. in 1786, by 



on. being u.-ed to d lud- two Scotchmen. In 1MJ. rranris C. Lowell 



ing process of the series. The following affords 

 a general notion of the nature and order of the 

 successive operations carried on in the manu- 

 facture of cotton yarn: (1) Mixing, the blend- 

 ing of different varieties of raw cotton, in order 

 to secure economical production, uniform qual- 

 ity and color, and an even thread in any desired 

 degree. (2) The willowing, scratching, or blow- 

 ing, an operation which cleans the cotton and 

 prepares it in the form of a continuous lap or 

 rolled sheet for the next process. (3) Carding, 

 an operation in which the material is treated in 

 its individual fibers, which are taken from the 

 lap, further cleansed, and laid in a position ap- 

 proximately parallel to each other, forming a 

 thin film, which is afterwards condensed into a 

 sliver a round, untwisted strand of cotton. 



(4) Drawing, the drawing out of several slivers 

 to the dimensions of one, so as to render the 

 new sliver more uniform in thickness, and to 

 place the fibers more perfectly in parallel order. 



(5) Stubbing, the further drawing or attenuation 

 of the sliver, and slightly twisting it, in order to 

 preserve its cohesion and rounded form. (6) 

 Intermediate or second stubbing, a repetition of 

 the former operation and further attenuation, 

 not necessary in the production of coarse yarns. 



(7) Roving, a continuation of the preceding, its 

 principal object being to still furtner attenuate 

 the sliver, and give it a slight additional twi-t. 



(8) Spinning, which completes the extension 

 and twisting of the yarn. This is accomplished 

 either with the throstle or the mule. By means 

 of the former machine the yarn receives a hard 

 twist, which renders it tough and strong. By 

 means of the latter yarns of less strength are 

 produced, such as warps of light fabrics and 

 wefts of all kind. Up to the middle of the Eight- 

 eenth Century the only method of spinning 

 known was that by the hand-wheel, or the stifl 

 more primitive distaff and spindle. In 1767, a 

 poor weaver of the name of Hargreaves, residing 

 at Stanhill, near Blackburn, in Lancashire, in- 

 vented a machine for spinning cotton, which he 

 named a spinning- jenny. It consisted at first 

 of eight spindles, turned by a horizontal wheel. 

 but was afterwards greatly extended and im- 

 proved, so as to have the vertical substituted 

 tor the horizontal wheel, and give motion to from 

 fifty to eighty spindles. In 17<> ( .. Arkwright. 

 originally a barber s apprentice, took out a patent 

 for spinning by rollers. From the circumstances 

 of the mill Sleeted by Arkwright at (Vomfonl. 

 in Derbyshire, being driven by water-fiower. his 

 machine received the name of the tm/er-/rarw, 

 and the thread spun on it that of water-twist. 

 The next important invention in cotton-spinning 

 was that of the mule, introduced by Mr. Samuel 

 (Yompton of Holton. in 177.">. and so called from 

 it combining the principle of the spinning-jenny 

 of Hargreaves with the roller-spinning of Ark- 

 writ'lit. Numerous improvements in cotton- 

 spinning have been introduced up to the | 



