28 THE COAST REGION. 



was the staple brought by this means, that the crops of some planters 

 were sold, not by sample, but by the brand on the bale, as the finest 

 wines are. During the war the cultivation of the finest varieties being 

 abandoned on the islands, the seed removed to the interior greatly dete- 

 riorated in quality. So scarce, on this account, was good seed directly 

 after the war, that J. T. Dill, a cotton merchant in Charleston, at one 

 time had in an ordinary letter envelope the seed from which all the bet- 

 ter qualities of long, staple cultivated now was derived. Nor have the 

 improvements made by careful selection of the seed ceased in later years. 

 The staple has kept fully up to the best grades of former days, and the 

 proportion of lint to seed cotton has been increased. Formerly one pound 

 of lint cotton from five pounds of seed cotton of the fine varieties was con- 

 sidered satisfactory. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. E. M. Clark, a fine va- 

 riety of cotton has been recently found, which yields one pound of lint to 

 three and one-half pounds of seed cotton, preserving at the same time the 

 strength, length and evenness of fibre characteristic of the best varieties. 



APPEARANCE OF THE PLANT. 



The sea island cotton plant is a larger and more vigorous grower than 

 the upland plant. It withstands the vicissitudes of the heat and cold 

 better, and it is less subject to disease ; blight and rust do not afi'ect it as 

 readily as they do the upland cotton, nor does it shed its forms and bolls 

 to anything like the same extent. These remarks as co rust apply also 

 to those varieties of uplands in which the length of the staple has been 

 improA'ed b}-^ selection of the seed, and rows of this are often seen healthy 

 and vigorous, while the short staple uplands around are withered with 

 the rust. The early growth of the sea island is so vigorous, that it main- 

 tains itself in fields infested with Bermuda and nut grass, as the uplands 

 could not do. The leaves are larger, smoother, and of a brighter green 

 than uplands, and the flowers are larger, handsomer, and of a more 

 golden yellow. But the bolls are smaller, and instead of being five-lobed 

 are only three-lobed — these lobes being so sharp pointed as to prick the 

 fingers, to the Serious inconvenience of pickers not accustomed to gather 

 it. Of course the small size of the bolls requiring so many to make a 

 pound, adds much to the tediousness and expense of harvesting the crop. 

 The fibre of tJie lint is much finer, stronger, smoother and silkier than 

 uplands; and while tlie latter is only ^ to f inches in length, the sea 

 island will measure 1^ to 2^ inches; the color, too, has a cast of creamy 

 yellowness not observed in uplands. 



