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IMPORTANT PLANTS USED FOR CLOTHES, &C. 



COTTON TREE, gossypium herbaceum, 

 C. 16, O. 7. Linn. Columniferae, Juss. Mal- 

 vaceae, sp. 6-10 A. 3 ft This important plant 

 was evidently well known to the ancients, 

 but its use in the manufacture of cloth, for 

 which it is now so deservedly celebrated, has 

 been generally known only during the last 

 century. The Hindoos were the earliest 

 manufacturers of cloth from cotton. Hero- 

 dotus says there is a tree in India producing 

 a kind of wool superior to that of sheep, and 

 the natives dress themselves in cloth made 

 of it." 



The cotton plant has bright green 5 lobed leaves. The flowers are 

 a. pale yellow and 1 petaled. The pods are triangular, 3 celled, and, 

 when ripe, they burst open, displaying their beautiful snow white con- 

 tents, within which are black seeds of the shape of grapes. The fibres 

 of the down are very fine and flexible, and the threads are finely tooth- 

 ed, which causes them to adhere closely together, and to make good 

 thread. The shrub is about the size of the currant bush ; and, though 

 an annual, yet by repeated cropping it may bear sufficiently for 3 years. 

 The seeds are sown in rows 6 or 8 feet apart. In 5 months the plant 

 flowers, and in 7 the pods form. When ripe, it is picked by hand, 

 gined and pressed into bales, averaging about 300 Ibs. each. 



The down, or cotton wool, lines the capsule containing the seeds of 

 the plant. Two species are cultivated, G. herbaceum and G. barba- 

 dense ; the first is generally cultivated in the east and here, though the 

 latter is said by some to be the species cultivated in the West Indies 

 and America. There are numerous varieties growing naturally in the 

 tropical regions of Asia, Africa and America and further north in the 

 United States, where it is most abundant. In Europe, the Levant, 

 Malta, Sicily and Naples are the chief places of its growth. 



Several species are grown in the E. Indies, but principally that 

 first named, which there produces a down of a nankeen color. The 

 seeds of all the species yield oil, and this is eaten in the Levant where 

 it is considered very wholesome. Cotton is distinguished in commerce 

 by the color, length, strength, and firmness of its fibres. White is the 

 common color, but the yellow, if not the effect of accident, is indica- 

 tive of greater firmness. The varieties in the market are character- 

 ized by the places where they are produced. They are generally 

 known as long and short stapled. The sea-island is the best of the 

 first and is grown mostly on the shores and islands of Georgia. The 

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