382 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. "jhis may be ascertained by its separating easily from the 

 pod or husk. When it adheres to the pod and must be 

 forced from it, the cotton will be of an inferior quality. 

 Great care should be taken to gather it as free from trash 

 or dirt of any kind as possible, which will save much 

 trouble afterwards in the cleaning. Cotton ought not 

 to be picked after rain or while wet, as in that case it 

 will be stained and of little value. 



In gathering the crop, particular care should be taken 

 to keep the stained and dirty cotton separate from the 

 more perfect, which may be done by each labourer having 

 two bags, one for the stained or inferior, the other for 

 the good cotton. The value of the latter would be greatly 

 increased, and cv^en the inferior would always find a 

 market in England. 



The next operation is that of separating the cotton-wool 

 from the seed Of all the modes of effecting this, hand- 

 picking is doubtless the best, because the most favourable 

 state in which cotton can be for all manufacturing pur- 

 poses, is, with the exception of being freed from the seed, 

 that in which it is gathered from the plant. Whatever 

 serves to entangle or mat the fibres is injurious, because 

 when matted, they require in carding a greater force to 

 separate them ; and the effect of this is to break the 

 staple, and otherwise to produce waste and inconvenience 

 to the manufacturer; besides which, a fine, clear, even 

 thread, can hardly ever be produced from matted cotton. 



The process of separating the seed from tl^e cotton-wool 

 by the hand is in general attended with so much expense 

 as to be impracticable ; though in Africa, perhaps, from 

 the cheapness of labour, the difficulty may be less. Ma- 

 chines have therefore been substituted for this purpose, 

 called gins, of which the common foot-gin is probably at 

 present the best for Africa. 



There 



