COTTON-WOOL. 



393 



first shower it is necessary to throw over ihem half an Appeudi 

 inch, or at most an inch deep of earth. 



As soon as the two seminal leaves make their appear- 

 ance, the plantations should be examined, and those seeds 

 replaced which have not vegetated. Three weeks after 

 the cotton-ground should be cleaned, only leaving in each 

 hole two or three of the strongest plants, near which the 

 earth should be opened and a little heaped up around 

 each shoot. Care must be taken that the ground be kept 

 clean and free from weeds, until the cotton-tree be six 

 months old, after which the great crop being over no 

 further trouble need be taken. 



At Bourbon, about the month of April, the cotton-tree 

 begins to shed its leaves. This fall preceeds the blossom- 

 ing; fifty days after which the gathering begins. The 

 blossoming varies from a month to a month and a half ; 

 but, in general, the earlier it takes place the more abun- 

 dant is the crop. The earth should not be hoed when 

 the pod begins to open, lest the dust should soil the 

 wool. 



With the gathering commence the most laborious and 

 nicest part of the business, and it often happens that, at 

 the very moment the cultivator hopes to reap the reward 

 of his labours, a shower of rain destroys it altogether, or 

 very much diminishes his profit. 



The line plantation is then of the greatest advantage. 

 Each workman goes along in a row, and picks up all he 

 can to the rio-ht and to the left. When the cotton arrives 

 at maturity, the pod opens and the wool appears. It is 

 taken about the middle, and it easily loosens fi'om the 

 pod to which it adhered. Care must be taken that the pod 

 does not touch the plant or the weeds, because the dirt 

 which might adhere to the cotton would much augment 

 the trouble of cleaning it. The bags or baskets into 



which 



