8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW COTTON 



heavy in proportion to their hair surface to travel more 

 than a foot or two before reaching the ground, and unless 

 the surface on which they fall is very clean and tidy 

 which it is not under jungle or meadow conditions the 

 lint rather obstructs than facilitates the further transport 

 of the seed, through entangling by its movements (as it 

 dries or moistens) the projecting portions of any plant 

 or object on which it lies. Moreover, the matted fibres 

 hinder the field germination of the seed, and it is easy 

 to recognize self-sown seedlings which have grown from 

 fallen seed cotton by their emaciated appearance as com- 

 pared with seedlings from ginned seed . In point of fact, 

 the modern cultivated cottons do not stand the slightest 

 chance under wild conditions in competition with the 

 meanest weeds, although their lint is developed to what 

 should be a highly beneficial degree. On the other hand, 

 though such locks of seed germinate badly, they rarely 

 fail to germinate, owing to the moisture-absorbing 

 properties of the blanket of lint ; and it is certain that a 

 less development of lint, insufficient to retard the ger- 

 minated seedling, but* still sufficient to retain plenty of 

 moisture, would give such seed a very good chance of 

 survival in competition with naked seeds under conditions 

 where rainfall was intermittent or scanty. The natural 

 habitat of cotton would thus appear to be land with 

 ample water beneath the surface, which its long tap-ijoot 

 could ultimately reach, but with scanty rainfall. On 

 such sites the cotton-plant would possess decided ad- 

 vantages over many others. In any case, it is time that 

 the cherished fiction of wind dispersal was abandoned. 



