THE COTTON PLANT. 



411 



lower leaves are also taken off. These cares 

 from time to time should be continued till the 

 period of flowering. The time of the seeds 

 coming to maturity varies according to the 

 climate and the species of the plant. When 

 the season has been favourable, the cotton is 

 generally fit for pulling about seven or eight 

 months after it has been sown. This period is, 

 however, weR indicated by the spontaneous 

 bursting of the capsule or seed-pod. The plan- 

 tations at this time are said to present a very 

 pleasing appearance. The glossy dark green 

 leaves finely contrast with the white globular 

 forms profusely scattered over the plant. In 

 the East the produce is gathered by taking off 

 the whole of the pod. In other parts, and this 

 is the more general practice, the seeds and cotton 

 are taken away, leaving the empty husks. The 

 first is, of course, much the most expeditious 

 method, but it has a very serious disadvantage. 

 The outer part breaks in minute pieces, and 

 thus mixes with the cotton, which cannot be 

 freed from it without much time and difficulty. 



Whichever method is pursued, this work is 

 always performed in the morning before sunrise, 

 as soon as possible after the cotton displays itself; 

 because long exposure to the sun injures its 

 colour, by giving it a yellow tinge. The pods 

 likewise, which are ready for gathering expand 

 in the heat of the day, and in some varieties the 

 seed and its envelope are then detached from the 

 pod, and falling to the ground the cotton be- 

 comes soiled and deteriorated. 



In some countries the plant after yielding its 

 produce is every year cut even with the ground; 

 in others this operation is performed only once 

 in two or tliree years. 



The cotton shrub does not in general last more 

 than five or six years in full or productive bear- 

 ing; the plantation is therefore generally after 

 that period renewed. The seeds may usually 

 be preserved for one or two years, but in some 

 varieties they should be planted almost as soon 

 as they are gathered. The surplus seeds serve 

 as food for cattle; an oil is likewise expressed 

 from them which is employed for many domestic 

 purposes. Although the extraction of oil from 

 the cotton seeds has been long practised in 

 the Levant, it is not many years since these seeds 

 were turned to similar advantage in America. 



"Not many years ago," says a recent traveller, 

 "those who had cotton gins felt themselves 

 obliged by any neighbour who was willing to 

 take the seed away; and what might have pro- 

 duced millions of dollars, has been rejected as 

 of no value." 



A machine has been invented for pulling the 

 seed, that is, separating the external skin, and 

 adhering fibres of cotton from the kernel. After 

 the seeds are pulled, they are ground and pressed 

 in a mill similar to the Dutch oil mills. The 



expressed oil is then refined, and it answers all 

 the purposes of the best sperm oil. The refuse 

 or oil cake forms a nutritious food for cattle. In 

 this way a considerable quantity of excellent 

 oil, and about forty bushels of cake is obtained 

 from the seeds of a quantity of pods that furnish 

 four bags of cotton. 



The annual plant is cultivated in the same 

 manner as that just described; only that in sow- 

 ing it more seeds are put into the holes, and 

 these are placed nearer to each other. It comes 

 to maturity much quicker, the seeds being sown 

 in April or May, and the crop reaped in Sep- 

 tember; in some hot climates two harvests can 

 be gathered in each year. 



Another important consideration is, that the 

 cotton should not be pulled immediately after 

 rain, as this woxild render the drying process 

 much more tedious and difficult; and should it 

 retain any moisture when it is packed, it would 

 ferment or become mouldy. 



Immediately after gathering it is taken to a 

 bam and assorted according to its quality; it is 

 then laid on mats or hurdles, and exposed to the 

 heat of the sun, or dried in stoves. 



The separation of the cotton from the seeds 

 is a very long and troublesome operation, when 

 performed by the hand; for the fibres of the 

 cotton adhere tenaciously to the seed, and some 

 time is consumed in cleansing even a small weight 

 of so light a material. In the greater part of 

 India the use of machinery for this purpose is 

 unknown, and all the cotton is picked by hand. 

 A man can in this manner separate from the 

 seeds scarcely more than one pound of cotton in 

 a day. In some parts of India, however, they 

 make use of a machine, which, though more 

 simple, does not materially differ fi'om the gin 

 used in the West Indies. Dr Buchanan describes 

 it in a Journey from Madras through the coun- 

 tries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar. Mr Clarke 

 Abel also found precisely the same machine in 

 China, at the village of Ta-tung, not far from 

 Nankin, which he thus describes: "It consisted 

 of two wooden cylinders placed horizontally one 

 above the other, on a stand a few feet from the 

 ground. The cylinders, very nearly touching, 

 were put in motion by a wheel acted upon by 

 the foot. The cotton being brought to one side 

 of the crevice intervening between them during 

 their revolution, was turned over to the oppo- 

 site; whilst the seeds, being too large to enter, 

 fell at the feet of the workmen." Mr Clarke 

 Abel then describes the instrument used by the 

 Chinese for fi'eeing the cotton from knots and 

 dirt : " This is equally simple, and is the same as 

 that used, I believe, in most countries for the 

 same or a similar purpose. It is a very elastic 

 bow with a tight string. In using it the carder 

 places it in a heap of the material, and having 

 IiuUad down the string with some force, he sud- 



