MALVACE^. 67 



The picking is done by women and cliildren, wlio twitch off the young 

 leaves and ternnnal Inids with tlie thumb and finger. They are then carried 

 to the house or «hed, wiiere they are spread out on mats, then roasted in ]>ans, 

 rolled in the hands, and dried over a charcoal fire, when the}- are readv for 

 packing. 



This is a brief description of one process. Several methods are in use to 

 accomplish tlie same end. 



Marts. — Canton is the great tea-exporting market for China. Most of 

 the best teas taken into Russia are carried overland. Teas are also shipped 

 from other Cliinese ports besides Canton. Imports into Great Britain an;, 

 chieriy landed at Liverpool; into tiie U. S., at New York, Bo.ston, and .San 

 Francisco. Tiie marketable character of each variety of tea depends upon 

 its purity, time of harvesting, and the perfection of preparation or curing. 

 Wiien these three things are perfect, tea discharges a certain aroma anil 

 possesses a peculiar taste. Tlie taste and aroma are .so delicate that tea 

 merchants do not trust their own judgment, but employ professional tasters, 

 who command high salaries. These tasters suffer in health on account 

 of breathing and absorbing a volatile oil given off by the tea while in an 

 infused state. 



Order IX. MALVACE^. 



Herbs or shrubs. Flowers regular; sepals 5, united at the base, 

 valvate in the bud ; petals 5, hypogyuous, convolute in the bud ; 

 stamens numerous, monadelphous, and hypogynous ; anthers kidney- 

 shaped, 1-celled ; pistils several, distinct or united ; stigmas various. 

 Leaves alternate and stipulate. Fruit, several-celled capsules, or made 

 up of 1-seeded carpels ; embryo of the seed curved. 



GOSSYPIUM, L. (Cotton Plant). Calyx cup-like, 5-toothed, encir- 

 cled by a ;)-leaved involucre, the cordate leaflets united at the base, 

 incisely toothed ; petals 5, large ; styles united ; stigmas 3-5 ; capsules 

 3-5-celled, many-seeded; seeds brown, immersed in soft, wool-like, 

 white, fibrous hairs, which is the cotton of commerce. Herbs and 

 shrubs. 



L G. herbaceum, L. (Herb Cotton.) Stem 5 feet high, clothed with stiff 

 liairs above. Leaves large, cordate, .'3-5-lobed below, 3-lobed above, somewhat 

 in form of the grape leaf, with mucronate lobes ; leaf-stalk as long as the 

 blade. Flower-stalk longer than the petioles, flowers axillary, yellow, with a 

 reddish center, showy, .'i inches in diameter. Herb. 



2. G. Barbadense, L. (Sea-Island Cotton). Leaf has 3 glands on the under 

 side of the mich'ib. Seed black, cottou very white, fibers long. 



3. G. arboreum, L. (Tree Cotton). Stem arborescent, 15 to 20 feet high, 

 branching. Leaves 5-lobed, not so broad as those of G. herbaceum. General 

 shape lanceolate; j)etioles liirsute. Flowers red and showy. 



The species of Gossy|)ium are numerous, those described above, with their 

 varieties, are tiie most important that are under cultivation. As the cotton- 

 plant is propagated from .seed it is liable to sport, and a great number of 

 forms or varieties have arisen, differing from the parent in strength, length, 

 or color of the fiber. The cotton fiber of commerce consists of the long silky 



