410 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



The Indian cotton has a dark hrown seed 

 streaked with black ; this cotton is very white, 

 and finer than that of Guiana, but not so pro- 

 ductive. Six other varieties bear nearly the 

 same description of seed, among which is the 

 Siam, so noted in the West Indies as being 

 nearly equal to silk in beauty and fineness. It 

 is of a brilliant whiteness, and its fibres are very 

 fine, long, and elastic. This variety produces 

 twice in the year, but does not bear a great quan- 

 tity. It is not much cultivated, because it can- 

 not be cleansed without extreme difficulty ; the 

 seed being entirely covered with a kind of green 

 moss or hair, cannot be separated from the cot- 

 ton by any machine, and not even by the hand 

 without much labour and care. 



The cotton of Cura^oa and that of St Domingo 

 have small seeds, the surface of which is thinly 

 covered with a few short hairs or a thin beard. 

 This kind is of a very tolerable quality. 



The seeds of the Jamaica cotton are perfectly 

 smooth, but so brittle as to break in the process 

 of separating them from their downy envelope. 

 The fibre is coarse but strong ; and this would 

 be considered of a very useful quality if it could 

 be better cleansed. Little or scarcely any cotton 

 is at present grown in Jamaica compared to the 

 quantity which was produced there a few years 

 back ; but it was always considered as one of the 

 worst cottons in the English market, in conse- 

 quence of the planters' persisting in the cultiva- 

 tion of a species which could not, without hand 

 labour, be properly divested of its seed ; it was 

 always exported mixed with pieces of these, and 

 was therefore known by the technical term fiMl 

 cotton. 



Of all the species of cotton the annual herba- 

 ceous plant yields the most valuable produce. 

 The " Sea Island cotton," imported into England 

 from Georgia, bears a price double to that im- 

 ported from any other countiy. The Persian 

 cotton has long been celebrated for its superior 

 quality ; and tlie concurrent testimonies of many 

 travellers show, that where this species is culti- 

 vated in other parts of the globe it is equally ex- 

 cellent. But the additional labour and conse- 

 quent expense attendant on its cultivation, as 

 well as its not being equally adapted to aU soils, 

 afford perhaps sufficient reasons why it is not 

 more generally adopted. This species is culti- 

 vated in China, but not in sufficient quantities 

 for the home consumption, as they import this 

 article largely from India. 



The quantity of cotton which each plant yields 

 is as various as its quality. Accordingly, there 

 are scarcely two concurrent opinions to be col- 

 lected on this subject. The average produce per 

 English acre is reckoned by different writers at 

 various quantities, varj'ing from one hundred 

 and fifty to two hundred and seventy pounds of 

 picked cotton. 



The cotton plant wiU grow in most situations 

 and soils, and is cultivated with very little trouble 

 or expense. According to Humboldt the larger 

 species, which attain to the magnitude of trees, 

 require a mean annual temperature of 68° Fahr. ; 

 the shrubby kind may be cultivated with suc- 

 cess under a mean temperature of 60° to 64°, 

 and may therefore be propagated as far as lati- 

 tude 40°. This plant is indeed cultivated in the 

 neighbourhood of Astracan, the latitude of which 

 is 46°- Some species flourish best in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the sea; others again are injured by 

 this proximity. The Pernambuco cotton, which 

 is the finest in Brazil, is of the latter kind, and 

 the planters find that in proportion as they re- 

 cede from the coast the quality of the cotton is 

 improved; they are, in consequence, every year 

 penetrating more into the interior, and they 

 always obtain a ready market for their produce, 

 as the dealers follow their footsteps, and settle 

 where they settle. 



Open situations and a strong soil moderately 

 dry and warm are most congenial to some spe- 

 cies, while others thrive better in a moist and 

 deep soil. 



In selecting seed for a plantation, therefore, 

 care should be used to adapt it to the soil and 

 situation in which it is to be cultivated. Pre- 

 viously to sowing them the seeds should be 

 wholly divested of every particle of cotton fibre, 

 and then steeped in water during some hours; 

 they are afterwards rolled in sand or any light 

 earth, in order entirely to separate them from 

 each other. This process is considered very 

 much to accelerate their germination. The time 

 for sowing in the West Indies is usually from 

 May to September, both months inclusive. The 

 ground is well prepared and manured, and then 

 holes are made some inches deep and about three 

 feet apart from each other. Eight or ten seeds 

 are generally dropped in each hole, because some 

 of them are liable to be destroyed by a grub or 

 worm, and others to rot in the ground; besides 

 which, a superfluity of plants is required to re- 

 place the ravages which are sometimes commit- 

 ted by caterpillars on the tender shoots. The 

 seeds being covered with earth, it is generally 

 expected, and especially if there have been any 

 rain to hasten the germination, that the plants 

 will begin to make their appearance in about 

 eight days. In some situations, when the weather 

 has been very dry, a much longer time elapses. 

 At about the end of six weeks the ground is 

 carefully weeded, and those plants which are 

 the weakest are drawn out, only two or three 

 being left in each hole. When the plants are 

 about three or four months old they are again 

 cleaned and thinned, and the stems and branches 

 are pruned, or, as it is called, topped, an inch, 

 or more, of the plants being broken off' from the 

 end of each shoot. Occasional! v some of the 



