COTTON 79 



China; and these very differences have given rise 

 to the many kinds and varieties of cotton we know 

 to-day. 



Besides the factors above considered as influen- 

 cing the tendency to variation, the cotton plant 

 responds perhaps more freely than any other cul- 

 tivated plant to ameliorated conditions of soil, 

 climate, and cultivation. 



THE COTTON PLANT 



To understand its characteristics you must know 

 the cotton plant itself. Its weed, flower, fiber, seed 

 and growth are interesting each and every one. 



In growth the stalk assumes a herbaceous, 

 shrubby, or tree-like form. None but these her- 

 baceous, shrub-like forms are grown to any extent 

 in this country. You will find the larger and tree- 

 like varieties grown occasionally, but only as 

 curiosities, since with them the low mean tem- 

 perature of the Cotton Belt is unfavorable to the 

 production of lint of any commercial value. 



The cotton plant of the Southern States is a 

 small annual shrub from two to four feet in height, 

 always branching extensively. The limbs are 

 longest at the bottom of the stalk, and short and 

 light at the top, this top growth in all parts of the 

 South usually being arrested by frost. The flowers 

 are white, or pale yellow or cream colored the first 

 day, become darker and redder the second day, and 

 fall to the ground on the third or fourth day, leaving 

 a tiny boll developed in the calyx. This boll 

 develops and enlarges until maturity when it is 

 not unlike the size and shape of a hen's egg. 

 When matured, the boll cracks and opens the three 

 to six apartments which hold the seed and the 



