58 THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW COTTON 



partial obstruction of the stalk by a cork-layer, a process 

 which carried further leads to shedding. If the very 

 marked indication in this figure of the lines along which 

 the boll opens may be trusted, all the bolls figured were 

 extremely unhealthy. 



Trustworthy conclusions as to details cannot be drawn 

 in this way, and to force these abnormal plants into 

 publicity with one hand, while writing on the extreme 

 sensitivity of cotton to environmental influences with the 

 other, can lead to no great progress in the mutual con- 

 fidence between grower, spinner, and scientist, which is 

 needed for the benefit of the trade. 



The following account of the development of the fruit, 

 seed, and fibre; is based upon material taken from a pure 



strain of Egyptian cotton, known as No. 77, 

 Material. , . , . , . , , ,,. , 



producing lint which is akin to the Nubari 



variety of Egyptian, but rather longer and stronger. The 

 account has been checked by examination of many other 

 kinds of cotton, both Egyptian and American. 



THE FLOWER-BUD (Fig. 11). The first appearance of 

 this characteristic bud, with its three-cornered cover ot 

 leafy bracts, takes place between three and four weeks 

 before it opens into a flower. It is formed at the end of 

 the flowering branch, and any further extension of the 

 latter is indirect. In the case of vegetative branches the 

 terminal bud persists, and continues to develop .fresh 

 leaves and stem- joints. In the case of flowering blanches 

 the terminal bud is differentiated into a flower-bud, and 

 the further extension of the branch results from a new 

 bud arising in the axil or junction of the leaf next below 



