COT 



COT 



ginning are, with rollers, 300 pounds 

 to the 1000, and 250 pounds to the 

 1000 with Miller and Whitney's gin. 

 This gin having, at last, given a cheap 

 and expeditious mode of taking tlie 

 wool from the hairy American cotton 

 (for a gin that costs ten pounds ster- 

 ling will clean a bale a day with a 

 single horse acting upon the gin, with 

 a band wheel which any man can 

 make for hmiself ), the cultivation of 

 this description of cotton diverged in 

 all directions around Georgia as the 

 common centre ; it went north into 

 the two Carolinas ; it went west into 

 the hill country of all the Southern 

 States ; it was found capable of ad- 

 justing itself to the soil and climate 

 of the interior country, which the An- 

 guiUa cotton had not been adapted 

 to; still the libre of the hairy or short 

 staple cotton is better near the sea 

 than in the interior." 



Diseases of the Plant. — Wet soils 

 are peculiarly injurious, producing 

 rot and rust. 



The rot commences with a black or 

 brown spot on the bowl, which, in- 

 creasing, produces a putrefaction of 

 the whole. It is thought to be a fun- 

 gus, and to prevail in old varieties 

 during rainy seasons. 



Rust is a disease of the leaves and 

 stalk. Spots or blotches of a brown 

 colour appear, which cause the parts 

 to dry up and almost crumble away. 

 It is produced by the Urcdo gossypii, 

 according to Dr. Leitner. 



The sore shin is a disease of very 

 young plants in Upper Mississippi, by 

 which the stems are very much inju- 

 red. 



The louse, or Aphis, is often very 

 destructive ; sprinkling with slacked 

 lime and topping would be serviceable. 



The green caterpillar eats into the 

 bowl, destroying the staple. 



The army worm is another very de- 

 structive insect, of a brown colour 

 striped with white, and devouring the 

 leaves. 



The cotton crop is rendered by 

 these causes very uncertain, and pe- 

 culiarly liable to destruction during 

 wet weather. The introduction of 

 liming is perhaps the best prevent- 



ive, but the large worms can only be 

 destroyed by burning up the bowls or 

 plants infested, so as to hinder the 

 propagation of the creatures. Not- 

 withstanding all these enemies, two 

 million bales were raised in 1S44. 



I COTTON SEED. The seeds 



; abound in a mild oil, and are very 

 nutritious. A bushel weighs thirty 

 pounds, and \ields two and one third 

 quarts of oil and twelve and a half 

 pounds fine meal. They are used as 

 food. in the Levant and East. The 

 proportion of oil is great, and readily 

 obtained by pressure ; the cake can 

 afterward be used with success in 

 fattening, and as a manure for new- 

 crops. To some extent, the whole 

 seed is used for cows and fattening 

 in the South, and is said to afford 

 well-flavoured milk. 



I COTTON, SPECIAL MANURES. 



' The application of calcareous marls 

 in South Carolina has revived worn 



' lands ; salt, also, in moderate quanti- 



I ties, improves the culture, but bone 

 earth will be the most serviceable. 

 Rich lands, or those well manured, 

 yield the heaviest supplies. By Dr. 

 Shephard's analysis cotton wool con- 

 tains one percent., and the seed 3 85 



I per cent, of ashes thus constituted •. 



Lime and Magnesia 

 Potash and (Soda?) 

 Phosphoric acid . 

 Sulphuric acid 



Wool. Seed. 



30-31 — 2979 



3109 — 19 40 



12-30 — 45-35 



1-22 — 116 



64-92 9570 



COTTON DYEING. Cotton and 

 linen have nearly the same affinity 

 for dyes, and will be introduced to- 

 gether here. Having been bleached, 

 the first step is to prepare them to 

 receive a good stain. Few colours 

 unite at once to form a permanent 

 dye, and madder fret with oil is the 

 most permanent. There are five 



I methods by which cloths are prepa- 

 red to retain colours. 



Ist. Galling. — Gall nuts or sumach, 

 or a mixture, is prepared for this pur- 

 pose. Two or three ounces of galls 

 to one pound of cotton are coarsely 

 powdered, put into a copper contain- 

 ing thirty gallons of water for one 

 hundred pounds of cotton, and boiled 



J until the pieces of gall nut feel pasty. 



207 



