LUTHER BORBANK 



plant, now cultivated as an annual, that had its 

 original home somewhere in the heart of South 

 America, but which has proved adapted to the 

 climate of the North American cotton belt, and 

 is now the chief producer of cotton in America, 

 and hence in the world. 



Sea Island cotton is a species indigenous to the 

 West Indies. It is of larger growth than the upland 

 cotton, attaining a height of three to eight feet, and 

 the bolls that contain the cotton fiber are sharp- 

 pointed and characterized by having only three 

 instead of four or five divisions or locks. Sea 

 Island cotton yields less fiber per acre and is more 

 costly to pick and gin than upland cotton. But it 

 commands a higher price. It is grown chiefly on 

 islands, and along the coast of South Carolina and 

 Georgia. It has peculiar value as material for 

 the making of the foundation for automobile tires. 



The India cotton and the Egyptian are not 

 grown extensively in this country, although varie- 

 ties have been introduced and grown by the United 

 States Bureau of Plant Industry for experimental 

 purposes. It is probable that these species will 

 prove valuable when the method of hybridization 

 is applied to the development of new races of 

 cotton modified to meet special needs. 



The cotton has a large, attractive flower, and 

 cross-fertilization occurs to a considerable extent 



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