VARIETIES OF COTTON 



441 



The importance of cotton as a textile material is due largel^^ 

 to its cheapness and durabiUty. 



Ordinary varieties of upland cotton yield about 1 pound 

 of lint to each 3 pounds of seed cotton; that is, 3 pounds of 

 seed cotton will yield one third, or 33 per cent, of its weight in 

 lint. The usual variation is between 30 and 35 per cent, 

 though nearly 40 per 

 cent is occasionally ob- 

 tained. Sea Island and 

 Egyptian cotton yield 

 rather less, only about 

 30 per cent. Long- 

 staple upland, a type 

 with specially long, 

 strong lint, yields less 

 Unt than ordinary up- 

 land, but the value per 

 pound is much greater. 

 605. Varieties. The 

 varieties of cotton are 

 nimierous, probably as 

 many as two hundred 



names being known in the United States, though not all rep- 

 resent distinct varieties. They differ in length of lint, earli- 

 ness, productiveness, size of boll, and other features. The 

 principal classes are the short-limb, or King, type, the big- 

 boll type, and the long-staple type. The productiveness 

 and earUness of cotton depend to a considerable extent on 

 the length of the internodes and the length of the branches. 

 The limbs appear in the axils of the leaves along the main 

 stem and the flowers are produced on the secondary branches 

 which grow from these main limbs. A type of plant with 

 limbs close to the ground and with short joints is ordinarily 

 earlier and more productive than one with fewer and longer 

 Umbs. 



Figure 145. 



Au open cotton 

 pickinp. 



boll ready fr)r 



