G4 WALL'S MANUAL 



gradually for the next day or two, with a twist over 

 the germ of the boll, by which it is speedily detached 

 in its rapid growth, when it withers and is cast off, 

 leaving the boll invested by a capacious three part, 

 dentate calyx, technically known as the square. This 

 calyx or square, when containing the germ, and 

 flower, are liable to be disjointed, and fall, from the 

 long prevalence of drought, but more so, when a 

 rainy season suddenly succeeds, occasioning a second 

 growth from the rapid elaboration of sap. 



The cotton plant very often commences flowering 

 about the 1st of June, and ceases about the 1st of 

 November, when the plant is killed by the frost. 

 The bolls are egg-shaped, rather under the size of 

 the egg of the domestic fowl, pointed at the ex- 

 tremity, expanding widely when, fully mature, ex- 

 hibiting a brown, tough, woody seed-vessel, some- 

 what horny in texture, to which the locks of fibre 

 or ]jnt adhere. 



The culture of cotton w r as introduced into China 

 about the thirteenth century, and has extended 

 largely ; the Nankin variety, especially produced 

 there, has acquired a wide notoriety, forming a dis- 

 tinct fabric, which is even yet imported into this 

 country. Georgia is said to have taken the lead in 

 the cultivation of this plant ; yet the first shipment 

 of cotton known was in 1784, when eight bags were 

 seized by the customhouse officers at Liverpool, it 

 not being believed that even the small quantity of 

 two thousand pounds had been raised in the United 

 States. Seed was introduced into Georgia from 

 Jamaica and Pernambuco in 1786, but the cultivation 

 of the Sea Island variety was not established until 



