MOCO COTTON 139 



Tout mostly black. Hybridisation has too evidently taken place, the 

 ■original naked seed is often partially covered with hairs and the leaf 

 of the genuine plant has short lobes, whilst many plants have long 

 lobes, said to be a sure sign of crossing. The flower is of a lemon-yellow 

 and the bolls are small, 7 to 15 being strung up at the ends of the 

 branches, thus weighing them down. The plants bear from July to 

 January. The average yield is diflficult to assess, as the plantations 

 extend in irregular widths along the valleys of rivers and brooks, but 

 after very careful calculation and allowing 501b. an acre for over 

 estimates we come to the conclusion that 450 to 4801b. lint is on the 

 .safe side for the Serido. Of course, catch crops such as Indian corn 

 .and beans are at the same time in the field. 



Moco Cotton 



There is also a very small seed variety of Moco, to which is given 

 the diminutive name of " Mocozinho " ; its fibre is perhaps slightly 

 finer than Moco proper. 



Moco cotton ripens all together and if the ground has sufficient 

 •moisture after the first picking which takes place in July, new leaves 

 and bolls form which are ready by September and later. It is maintained 

 that Moco trees get their moisture by infiltration from the reservoirs, 

 •and by capillary attraction from the subsoil water which is not very deep. 



General Remarks. — After the cotton has been picked the cows 

 are allowed into the fields ; the farmers have a saying that cows 

 "■ salubrisam " (lit. they make healthy) the cotton, because they prune 



