464 FIELD CROPS 



other is the wood fiber cells, which are elongated, spindle- 

 shaped, and overlap each other so as to form a continuous 

 bundle. These cells make up what are known as the fibro- 

 vascular bundles, which give strength and stability to the 

 plant. The woody parts of trees and shrubs are made up of 

 these bundles, as are also the fibrous portions of the stems of 

 annual plants. Some plants produce simple cells on the 

 surface of the seeds and other parts; these are called surface 

 fibers and are sometimes of value for textile purposes. 



The more important textile fibers are either bast fibers, 

 from the inner bark of such plants as flax and hemp, or sur- 

 face fibers, from cotton. In addition, some textile fiber is 

 obtained from the leaves and leaf -stems of certain plants, such 

 as sisal and manila hemp. By far the most important of the 

 plants which produce spinning fiber is cotton. The only 

 others which are grown in the United States to any extent 

 are flax and hemp, and flax is grown much more largely for 

 seed than for fiber. 



COTTON 



611. Origin and History. The most important species 

 of cotton, the ordinary upland type grown in our Southern 

 states, is supposed to be a native of southeastern Asia. 

 Its general cultivation is of comparatively recent date, as it 

 has been grown in China for only ten or twelve centuries, 

 while its cultivation within the United States dates back but 

 a century and a half. The importance of cotton as a fiber 

 plant was decidedly limited, because of the difficulty of 

 separating the fiber, or lint, from the seed, till the invention 

 of the cotton gin in 1792 by Eli Whitney, an American. 

 Before that time, it had been grown to some extent in Egypt 

 and India, but had never been a serious competitor of wool 

 and flax. The Indians of tropical America cultivated cotton 



