THE COTTON PLANT. 19 



Loom," says : " A cotton seed is something like a 

 bean in its early growth. Within it are two leaves 

 and a tap-root ; and after lying in the ground about 

 a week the tap-root strikes down into the earth, 

 while the two leaves open above, growing in a few 

 days from two to three inches high. . . . During 

 the next ten days two more leaves appear, and in 

 the following two weeks from five to six additional 

 ones. . . . When the cotton plant is about twelve 

 inches high it begins to throw out limbs, with 

 leaves about four inches apart, having at every 

 joint a form, or square, or shape all these names 

 being used for what is really the bud. 



" This bud, on its first appearance, is triangu- 

 lar in outline, with three leafy bracts on the out- 

 side. . . . The blossom opens after sunrise in the 

 morning, pure white, with three (or four, or five) 

 petals. It begins to close at about two o'clock 

 when a pale red streak may be seen running up 

 each petal, and at sundown it is wholly closed. 

 The next morning, at about sunrise, it is again 

 open, as fresh as ever, but, instead of being white, 

 it is now a beautiful pink. It lasts the day out, 

 but with the setting sun again closes, this time, 

 however, wilting and falling off, leaving at its 

 base a little boll about the size of a small bean." 



