518 MINOR PRODUCTS OF CEYLON 



should be adopted. Vacancies should be supplied by seeds, not by 

 plants when thinning out, as transplanted plants are seldom success- 

 ful. The crop is ready for picking in 5 to 6 months (according to 

 variety) from the time of sowing. In Ceylon, it is best to sow in Octo- 

 ber or November (rainy season), the crop thus maturing in March and 

 April, which are dry months. When ripe, the pods burst, and the 

 cotton bolls are then picked by hand. The cotton is afterwards 

 thoroughly dried in the sun (thus getting rid of stainers and other 

 insects), being then separated from the seed by a ginning machine, 

 after which it is made up into compressed bales for export. 



Grading, which is of great importance, should be begun in 

 the field and completed in the factory or store, it being essential 

 to sort the cotton according to quality into 2 or 3 grades so as to 

 obtain more or less uniform qualities. An average of 30 to 40 

 pods per plant is considered a fair average crop, though some 

 plants may bear as many as 100 pods. Fifty pods should yield 1 oz. 

 clean cotton, and an acre may produce from 200 to 400 Ib. ginned 

 cotton (or 1,000 Ib. seed cotton), or more according to soil and 

 cultivation. The seeds also yield a revenue, these being largely 

 used for cattle food as well as for the extraction of oil. Cotton by 

 itself has not as yet been found a very remunerative product in 

 Ceylon, but as a catch-crop with coconuts, rubber, etc., it may fur- 

 nish a subsidiary source of revenue. The exportt from Ceylon in 

 1912 was 140,171 Ib., valued at Rs. 64,605. 



VARIETIES. The numerous varieties may be classified under the two 

 main types of long staple and short staple. To the former belong the Sea Island 

 cotton (Gossypium barbadense) considered the best of all cottons, owing to the 

 length (about 2 inches) and silkiness of the fibre ; also the Egyptian Cotton, a 

 variety of the Sea Island kind. Of these again there are numerous varieties ; 

 one of the best of the Egyptian class is the Mit-afiffi. Of the short-staple 

 varieties, the American Upland (Gossypium hirsutum) is generally considered 

 the best and is in greatest general demand in commerce ; it has given the best 

 results at the Maha-illupalama Experiment Station, Ceylon. Peruvian Cotton 

 (G. barbadense var.), Indian Cotton (G. herbaceum and G. neglectum) are also 

 short-staple varieties. Tree Cotton (G. arboreum), is a small tree, attaining a 

 height of 14 to 20 ft., considered a native of Africa. Caravonica : a perennial, 

 bushy hybrid-cotton, raised recently in Queensland ; said to yield about 3 Ib. 

 per tree a year. Allen's and Sunflower varieties have proved superior to 

 Egyptian cotton in Uganda, giving a yield of well over 300 Ib. per acre (Vide 

 Uganda Administration Report, 1911-12). 



Silk Cotton or Kapok. (Eriodendron anfractuosittn* Malva- 

 ceae) A moderate-sized, quick-growing, upright thornless tree, indi- 

 genous to tropical Asia and Africa. A striking peculiarity of the tree 



tCeylon Customs Report. tff =Cciba Pentandra. 



