THE COTTON PLANT. 15 



into Virginia and Georgia. It was in 1621 that 

 some cotton seeds, probably of Grossypium Barba- 

 dense from the West Indies, were planted in Vir- 

 ginia as an experiment. In 1739 a Swede named 

 Samuel Auspourguer, who had cultivated cotton in 



FIG. 2. GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM (Royle). 



Georgia, carried a sample of his fibre to England. 

 After that, small but increasing quantities were 

 sent over yearly until cotton became the most im- 

 portant export of the South. 



In 1792 the cotton sent from the United States 

 to Liverpool amounted to 138,328 pounds. In 



