CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANT 



189 



open again. The petals of upland cotton are white or 

 creamy in color; those of Sea Island cotton are bright 

 yellow. During the day they turn pink or bright red. 



The portion of the plant containing the seed and lint is 

 called the boll, which usually has four or five divisions. 



Fig. 105. A typical cotton plant bearing cotton ready to be picked. 



The bolls vary greatly in size, depending upon the varieties. 

 Usually they are from one and a half to two and a half 

 inches in length and from one to one and a half inches 

 in diameter. The big-boll varieties average from 40 to 70 

 bolls per pound of seed cotton and the small-boll varieties 

 from 80 to 130 per pound. 



