120 COTTON CULTURE. 



Upland or Greeii Seed, is as one to one hundred. As tlie 

 soil, climate, and mode of ginning of the Sea Island are 

 all different from the Upland, some account will be given 

 at the close of this chapter. 



The Mexican seed was introduced from that country 

 about the beginning of the present century. The story is 

 that our Consul at the City of Mexico, noticing the supe- 

 rior quality of the staple grown in that country, asked 

 permission of that Government to bring home a quantity 

 of the seed. His request was refused ; but afterwards, 

 when dining with one of the Ministers, he was told that 

 he could not take cotton seed out of the country, but the 

 Mexican Government would make no objection to his ex- 

 porting as many dolls as he might wish to. The Consul 

 took the hint, and ordered several hundred dolls to be 

 stuffed with choice cotton seed. Thus the famous " Mexi- 

 can seed," known from James River to the Rio Grande, 

 became domesticated in the United States. Its peculiarity 

 seems to be its adaptation to a dry, uniform climate. The 

 wool or staple is white, with a faint tinge of yellow, after 

 it has laid for some time in the seed. In. a dry season, 

 when the supplies of moisture have been moderate, and in 

 small quantities at a time, the staple of the Mexican is 

 long, even and soft ; the bolls open wide, and the weight 

 of the seeds pulls the wool out, and causes it to hang in a 

 long silken tuft or handful, which, if not picked for some 

 time after opening, is liable to become soiled with mud and 

 sand, or, after frost, filled with fragments from the leaves 

 and pods. 



A number of planters in the s6uthern part of Mississip- 

 pi, near where Rodney now stands, were among the first, 

 if not the very first, to pay attention to the improvement 

 of cotton seed. They produced an excellent quality, 

 which was much in demand in all parts of the South. 

 Their bags were marked "Petit Gulf," the name of a 

 small shipping point on the river where an eddy in the 



