40 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



Indies, as being nearly equal to silk in beauty and 

 fineness. It is of a brilliant whiteness, and its fibres 

 are very fine, long, and elastic. This variety pro- 

 duces twice in the year, but does not bear a great 

 quantity. It is not much cultivated, because it can- 

 not be cleansed without extreme difficulty : the seed 

 being entirely covered with a kind of green moss or 

 hair, cannot be separated from the cotton by any 

 machine, and not even by the hand without much 

 labour and care. 



The cotton of Curacoa and that of St. Domingo 

 have small seeds, the surface of which is thinly 

 covered with a few short, hairs or a thin beard. This 

 kind is of a very tolerable quality. 



The seeds of the Jamaica cotton are perfectly 

 smooth, but so brittle as to break in the process of 

 separating them from their downy envelope. The 

 fibre is coarse but strong, and this would be con- 

 sidered of a very useful quality if it could be better 

 cleansed. Little or scarcely any cotton is at present 

 grown in Jamaica compared to the quantity which 

 was produced there a few years back ; but it was always 

 considered as one of the worst cottons in the English 

 market, in consequence of the planters' persisting in 

 the cultivation of a species which could not, without 

 hand labour, be properly divested of its seed ; it was 

 always exported mixed with pieces of these, and was 

 therefore known by the technical iermfoul cotton. 



Of all the species of cotton the annual herbaceous 

 plant yields the most valuable produce. The " Sea 

 Island cotton," imported into England from Georgia, 

 bears a price double to that imported from any 

 other country. The Persian cotton has long been 

 celebrated for its superior quality, and the concur- 

 rent testimonies of many travellers show, that where 

 this species is cultivated in other parts of the globe 

 it is equally excellent. But the additional labour 

 consequent expense attendant on its cultivation, 



