FIBliE CHOPS. 271 



preferred. They should contain a good supply of 

 vegetable matter and be well drained. 



The lint contains but a trifling quantity of fertiliz- 

 ing material. For each pound of lint there are about 

 two pounds of seed. The seed is about from one- 

 eighth to one-fifth part of the plant and is rich in the 

 precious elements. The seed is not injured either as 

 a fertilizer or as a stock food by the extraction of 

 the oil. If all the plant except the lint and oil is re- 

 turned to the soil the loss of fertility by the sale of 

 the products is trifling. The soil loses fei-tility by 

 the oxidation of the vegetable matter in the soil 

 during the hot summer months, and the washing away 

 of the material thus made soluble during the winter 

 months. The comparative bareness of the soil facili- 

 tates both these processes. 



Varieties. — Cotton belongs to a family of plants, 

 Malvacae, which is entirely different from the cereals 

 and grasses. Okra and hollyhock belong to the same 

 family. There are several species of cotton, all of 

 which are perennial. The cultivated species are 

 treated as annuals. 



The principally cultivated species is the common 

 upland or short staple cotton, Goasypiuni herbaceum. 

 It is a shrubby plant having alternate stalked and 

 lobed leaves and a long deep tap-root. The flower is 

 white or cream-colored on the first day, turns red on 

 the second and falls on the third, leaving a small boll 

 enveloped in the calyx. The boll is three to five 

 celled and when ripe is the size and shape of a fowl's 

 egg. When ripe it bursts open through ihe middle 

 of the cells, liberating numerous dark colored seeds 

 covered with cotton. 



