96 BRAZILIAN COTTON 



is at present 4 per cent., but one of the modern ginning factories 

 belonging to a company of Mr. Trajano de V. Medeiros at Pirapora 

 has a concession of 25 per cent, reduction on this rate. 



Owing to the difficulty of travel in Minas it was quite impossible 

 for us to inspect closely more than the districts along the Sao Francisco 

 river, but we examined also some cotton fields at Cordisburgo, and 

 at Curvello. 



The cotton produced in Minas varies in length of fibre from 

 ^in. to l|in. ; it ranges from coarse to fine, silky fibres. There are 

 at least three varieties grown and generally one finds them all in 

 one and the same field. 



As we progressed up north the tendency was to keep annual 

 cottons more than one year in the field. The shrubs are simply cut 

 back at the end of the season. 



The rainy season is from October to March, the dry season covers 

 the rest of the year. 



The land measure here is 48,400 square metres per ''alqueire" 

 which is, therefore, almost twice as much as in Sao Paulo. 



The varieties of cotton growing are : 



1. — The herbaceous kind, of American origin, often called " Big Boll " 

 or " Big Boffe," but it is seldom Russell Big Boll. The fibre 

 is coarse, anything from 20 to 30mm., very often strong. People 

 say that it resists the pink boll-worm and cotton leaf-worm 

 better than other kinds, but where ants are this cotton cannot 

 exist. This real annual plant is in most places grown for two 

 or three years, i.e., the plant is cut off two or three inches above 

 the ground after it has given a crop ; in the next season it sprouts 

 out again and the new branches bear the crop. We were 

 repeatedly told that in the second year the crop is heavier, if the 

 pink boll- worm does not infest the field. The seed is hairy, with 

 yellowish-green linters (ginning percentage about 30 per cent.). 



2. — Rim de Boi is a tree cotton, which has the curious " kidney " seed 

 arrangement. Seven or eight seeds are joined closely together in 

 two's with one at the head, resembling the formation of the rattle 

 of the rattlesnake, or as the name indicates, the seeds are similar to 

 the kidney of an ox. The seeds are practically bare of linters ; they 

 cling closely together. The fibre of this cotton varies from 25 to 

 32mm. in length ; it is finer than the herbaceous kind and is very 

 strong. The colour of the lint is white but there is also a khaki- 

 coloured Rim de Boi cotton ; this latter is frequently used by the 

 domestic spinners as it gives a nice effect in the cloth, without 

 the necessity of dyeing. " Rim " cotton is often called " In- 

 TEIEO." The ginning percentage is only 18 per cent, and for 

 this reason it is generally bought round the district of Pirapora 

 with a discount of 20 per cent, on the other cottons. In Joazeiro 

 and farther north in Bahia this cotton is very much appreciated 

 by the hammock weavers and a premium, instead of a discount, 

 is paid. 



