332 



The World's Commercial Products 



a native of the West Indies, 

 but was introduced to the 

 Sea Islands (off the coast of 

 Georgia and South Caro- 

 lina), where it is largely 

 cultivated and whence it 

 derives its common name. 

 Recently it has been re- 

 introduced into the West 

 Indies. 



Egyptian Cottons, the 

 more important of which 

 are Mitafifi, Ashmouni, Yan- 

 novitch, etc., are varieties 

 of this same species. 



Kidney Cotton. The 

 peculiar name of this vari- 

 ety is derived from the cir- 

 cumstance, that the seeds in 

 each of the three divisions 

 of the boll remain firmly 

 attached together forming a 

 lobed, more or less kidney-shaped mass, instead of each being separate as in the other varieties. 

 This species yields Pernambuco, Ceara, and other kinds of South American cottons. 



Tree Cotton. The produce of G. arboreum, which attains a height of from fourteen to 

 twenty feet. Africa appears to be its native home, although it is grown to some extent in 

 India. 



The different varieties of cotton demand to some degree different methods of cultivation. 

 Moreover, cotton is grown in purely tropical countries such as the West Indies, Africa, India, 

 etc., on the inundated lands of the Nile valley, and in the United States, where the plants are 

 annually cut down by frost. In some regions primitive labour and appliances alone are 

 available ; in others, such as the States, the highest scientific and technical skill are to hand. 

 All these reasons necessarily entail differences in the mode of procedure, but, as it would not be 

 possible to describe all the variations practised in the space of a few pages, attention must be 

 restrictedcto summarising the principal features of cotton cultivation, and the gathering and 

 preparation of the crop until it is packed up into the huge bales so familiar a sight in the 

 neighbourhood of the docks of Liverpool, the great cotton-receiving port of England. 



By permission of Messrs. Newton & Co. 



THE COTTON PLANT 





Cultivation 



The cotton seed is sown and the young. plants thinned out to the .distance apart best suited 

 to local conditions. In about six months' time they flower, and the pods or bolls follow in 

 due course. When ripe they burst, often displaying their white cottony contents. Picking 

 is done by ; hand, care being taken to harvest the cotton with as little as possible of such 

 extraneous material as pieces of pods, twigs, dry leaves, etc. 



• The crop gathered is "seed-cotton," consisting of the seeds with the fibre or lint firmly 

 attached. In primitive countries the lint is pulled off by hand. Usually, however, a gin is 

 employed. One. type of gin has rollers between which the lint passes, whilst the seeds remain 

 behind. There are also the saw gins, in which the lint is pulled off the seeds by a rapidly 

 rotating toothed disc or '.'.saw.'.' As the result of ginning lint is obtained and also the cotton 

 seed. The latter may be used on the estate or as a sourceof oil. The lint is made up into 

 bales, compressed, and is then ready for shipment. 



