THE COTTON PLANT. 



{Gossypium barbadense, L.) 



Theise men ben the beste worchers of Gold, Sylver, Cottoun, Sylk and of all such things 

 of any other, that be in the World. 



— Mandeville, Travels, p. 212. 



The cotton plant is undoubtedly one 

 of the most useful plants in the entire 

 vegetable kingdom. As with other ex- 

 ceedingly useful, though common things, 

 we are so accustomed to the blessings we 

 owe to this plant that we almost entirely 

 lose sight of its identity and very exist- 

 ence. 



There are a number of cotton yielding 

 plants which belong to the genus Gossy- 

 pium of the Mallow family (Malvaceae), 

 the same family to which the Hibiscus 

 and garden mallows belong. The most 

 important species are G. barbadense, 

 which yields the noted Sea Island cotton, 

 and G. herbaceum. Both are extensively 

 cultivated in the United States, the lat- 

 ter species more than the former. Other 

 more or less cultivated species are G. ar- 

 boreum, G. religiosum and G. punctatum. 

 The cottons are handsome plants with 

 large, showy yellow or purple flowers. 

 They vary from comparatively small and 

 herbaceous to shrubb}^ or even approach- 

 ing the dimensions of trees. The seeds 

 are borne in a three to five lobed cap- 

 sule, which ruptures at maturity, thus 

 allowing the snow-white cotton head to 

 appear. The outer surface of the seeds 

 is covered with slender fillers, each fiber 

 being simply a single, greatly elongated 

 epidermal cell. The individual fiber is 

 flattened, twisted upon its axis, flexuous, 

 from one to two or three inches in length. 

 These fibers constitute the cotton of the 

 market, which finds so many important 

 uses in human economy. Of course pri- 

 marily nature intended these fil)ers for 

 the special use of the plant itself ; being 

 a means of aiding in the distribution of 

 the seeds, and no doul)t also serving as a 

 protection against being eaten by ani- 

 mals, as the dense, more or less inter- 

 twined growth of insipid, tenacious fibers 

 constilnte anylliing l)nt a lonipling mor- 



sel. Man, by his ingenuity and skill, has 

 been enabled to utilize this product of 

 nature in his own behalf. 



The commercial and technical uses of 

 cotton date back to very remote antiqui- 

 ty. Cotton fabrics were in use in China 

 as early as 2300 B. C. At the discovery 

 of America, beautiful cotton fabrics were 

 found in Brazil, Peru, Mexico and the 

 West Indies. According to the eminent 

 Greek historian and traveler, Herodotus, 

 cotton clothing was quite universally 

 worn 484 B. C. The finest cloth came 

 from the valleys of the Ganges, and not 

 until the close of the campaigns of Alex- 

 ander the Great did the manufacture of 

 cotton cloth become a distinctive industry 

 in Greece. It appears that during the 

 time of Pharaoh cotton was yet a rare 

 article since it is recorded that this 

 eminent ruler presented Joseph with a 

 costly coat made of this material, as a 

 memento of high esteem. It is also a 

 notable fact that the Egyptian mummies 

 are swathed in linen instead of cotton 

 cloth. No cotton seeds have ever been 

 found in the ancient tombs of Egypt, nor 

 is the plant represented upon the ancient 

 mural paintings of that country. 



In the eastern continent India was no 

 doubt the principal cotton growing coun- 

 try ; even China obtained its principal 

 supply from that source. Not until about 

 the ninth century of our era was cotton 

 extensively cultivated in China. About 

 the second centum- Arabian merchants 

 lirought ccnion fn^m India and began to 

 cultivate it in the vicinity of the Red sea, 

 and from thence it gradually found its 

 wa\- int(^ Sixain al)out the sixteenth cen- 

 tury, and from S]\'\in into Italy and 

 Greece. 



No one knows exactly when cotton 

 began to l)e used and cultivated in the 

 w estern continent ; we know that it nmst 



