390 



COTTON-WOOL. 



Appendix. scanty, and scarcely one-third of what the tree produces 

 at eighteen months or two years; but the third year 

 the produce is little more than one-half of that obtained 

 at the end of eighteen months. Two crops are generally 

 made in the year. The first is (if I may use the 

 expression) a mere gleaning, and takes place about 

 the month of May, but the great crop is from July 

 to September ; and it appears that they gather in the 

 month of December, when the cotton is ripe; but at this 

 time rains are to be apprehended. Wet wool curls, 

 loses its brightness, and is often entirely spoiled : it is on 

 this account that the cotton should always be gathered 

 as soon as it begins to ripen. 



Some cultivators have observed, that the cotton gathered 

 on trees which have attained their third year, gives 

 at the most, after it has been milled, one quarter of its 

 gross weight,^ whereas that from the trees of eighteen 

 months or two years gives about one- third. 



At Bourbon they cultivate two kinds of cotton ; one 

 with a black smooth seed, easy to detach from the wool, 

 and for this reason most esteemed. It results from this 

 property, that the milling and cleaning are quicker, for 

 crushed seed forms the principal dirt of the milled cotton. 

 The silk of the cotton with black and smooth seed is 

 inferior to that with white seed. This last kind is softer 

 and more delicate; the difference is perceivable to the 

 touch : the other is more rough, and gives way less 

 easily under the pressure of the hand. But the cotton 

 with white seed is much more difficult to cleanse from 

 it. The work of milling is longer, because the silks 

 adhering to the seed on all sides, can only be separated 

 by tearing, and it is this which gives it a white shade. 

 Besides this difficulty, a great quantity of seeds are drawn 

 between the cylinders and crushed ^ which greatly in- 

 creases 



