140 THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW COTTON 



been unable to elucidate, namely, the habit in the U.S.A. 



of storing seed-cotton for a month if possible before 



The Storage ginning,* and the reverse habit in Egypt of 



of Seed- ginning as soon as possible after picking. 



Cotton. Thig habit in the u g A has always b een 



ascribed to the protoplasm of the ]int hair cell remaining 

 alive, and, so to speak, finishing its work on thickening 

 the wall while in the store. Upland cotton does not 

 behave in this way when grown in Egypt, the cell -con- 

 tents dying as soon as the boll opens; and either the 

 accepted explanation is incorrect, or else the process is 

 merely one of " conditioning," by effecting a more 

 uniform distribution of moisture through the sample 

 than when it was first picked. Sometimes the effect is 

 ascribed to the oil from the seed working its way into the 

 lint, but the author is not aware that any chemical proof 

 of this statement has ever been brought forward, nor is 

 it easy to see how oil (which is buried as droplets in the 

 living protoplasm of the embryo only) can work its way 

 out, through the dead tissues of the seed-coat, including 

 the vegetable ivory of the palisade layer (Fig. 20), and 

 ultimately into the lint. 



We now turn to the major characters of length and 

 strength, with the all-embracing feature of uniformity. 



There is very little to be said regarding Length, other 

 than our previous remarks in the foregoing chapters. %If 

 any of the many contributing causes have brought about 

 irregularity in this respect, the sample will be unsatis- 

 factory ; it will not " pull to a hard edge " (Fig. 18, B), 



* But not in Texas. 



