176 USEFUL FIBEE PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



or never produce any lint in regions having as low a mean temperature as the cotton 

 belt of the United States. 



The determination of the species of cotton grown in this country presents some 

 peculiar difficulties. The authorities differ widely regarding the specific origin of 

 the short-staple or upland cotton, while more nearly agreeing on that of the sea- 

 island cotton. The latter is generally considered as having originated from G. 

 barbadense. Species which have been considered synonyms of G. barbadense are G.fru- 

 tescens Lasteyr., G.fuscum Boxb., G.glabrumljam., G.jamaicensi Macfad., G.jaranicum 

 Blume, G. maritimum Todaro, G. nigrum Hamilton. G. oligospermum Macfad., G.perenne 

 Blanco, G. peruvianum Cav.. G. punctatum Schum. and Thonn., G. racemosum Poir.. G. 

 religiosum Parlatore, G. vitifolium Lam., and perhaps others. 



This species is indigenous to the Lesser Antilles and probablyto San Salvador, the 

 Bahamas, Barbados, Gua'daloupe, and other islands between 12 c and 26° north lati- 

 tude. Bycultivation.it has been extended throughout the West Indies, the mari- 

 time coast of the Southern States. Central America. Puerto Pico, Jamaica, etc., 

 southern Spain, Algeria, the islands and coast of western tropical Africa. Egypt, 

 Island of Bourbon, East Indies, Queensland, New South Wales, etc. It may be cul- 

 tivated in any region having a hot and humid atmosphere, but the results <>t' acclima- 

 tization indicate that the humid atmosphere is hot entirely necessary if irrigation 

 he employed, as this species is undoubtedly grown extensively in Egypt. As a rule, 

 thequality of the staple improves with the proximity to the sea. but there are excep- 

 tions to this rule, as that grown on Jamaica and some oilier islands is of rather low 

 grade, while the best fiber is produced along the shores of Georgia and South Carolina. 



The yield of lint from Sea Island cotton is less than from any other hind grown in 

 this country, bnt on account of the length and (quality of the fiber it is adapted to 

 uses to which the other kinds are not suited, and its high market value compensates 

 for the small yield. 



G. herbaceum : While scarcely any of the authors agree in the more important 

 points when discussing the origin of upland cotton, the weight of opinion seems to 

 be that the species is either G. herbaceum or G. hirsutum, which are considered 

 synonymous, and the former name is employed to designate the species, which 

 includes in its synonyms the following: G. album Hamilton, G. chinense Fisch. & 

 Otto, G. croceum Hamilton, G. eglandulpsum Cav., G. el at urn Salisb., G. glandulosum 

 Steud., G. hirsutum Linn., G. indicum~Lam., G. latifoliumMuTT., G. leoninvm Medic, 

 G. macedonicum Murr., G. micranlhum Cav., G, molle Mauri, G. nanking Meyen, G. 

 obtusi folium Eoxb., G. paniculatum Blanco, G. punctatum Guil. & Perr , G. religiosum 

 Linn., G. siamense Tenore, C. sinense Fisch., G. strictum Medic. G. tricuspidatumljam., 

 and G. vitifolium Eoxb., together with numerous others the descriptions of which 

 are too indefinite or the specimens too meager to determine them positively. 



The origin of this series is much more confused than that of the sea-island cotton. 

 If we should separate the upland cotton into two species, viz, G. herbaceum and G. 

 hirsutum, probably the question would be simplified, as the former is generally con- 

 sidered of Asiatic origin, while the other is attributed to America. Todaro (Eel. sulla 

 coltnra dei cotoni in Italia, 1877-78, p. 212) claims that the form called by him G. 

 hirsutum originated in Mexico, whence it has been spread by cultivators throughout 

 the warmer portions of the world. 



To this form he ascribes the Georgia upland cotton or the long staple upland cot- 

 ton. Parlatore (Le specie dei cotoni. p. 43) considers it indigenous to some of the 

 islands of the Gulf of Mexico as well as the mainland, and all green-seeded cotton. 

 which is cultivated so widely, as originating from this form. On the other hand, he 

 claims India, especially the shores of Coromandel, as the primitive home of G. her- 

 baceum, from which place it has spread as extensively as its western congener, and 

 is found in cultivation in nearly the same regions. Todaro says that G. herbaceum 

 is spontaneous in Asia and perhaps also in Egypt, and he claims G. icightianum as the 

 primitive form of the Indian cottons. Maxwell T. .Masters claim- G. stocksii as the 

 original of all cultivated forms grouped under G. herbaceum. others consider (r. 

 herbact um .\< a uati \ e of Africa, and i r seems impossible from the mass of conflicting 

 evidence to determine just where it did originate. It seems probable that G. lurlm- 

 cexnn is not a definite species, but one developed by cultivation from, perhaps, sev- 



