CHAP. I.] GENERAL VIEW. VARIETIES OP COTTON. 15 



experiments are still being made by private individuals. 

 This Cotton is marked by the peculiarity of its seeds, 

 which adhere together in conglomerations. 



5th. Egyptian, which has been tried with some suc- 

 cess in the Madras district. 



6th. The Sea Island, which is cultivated on a range 

 of islands lying along the coast of South Carolina and 

 Georgia.* 



Indian, Bourbon, and New Orleans Cotton compared. 22 



— Besides the differences between the staple of the 

 Indian and New Orleans Cotton, there are some other 

 peculiarities which are well worthy of notice. The In- 

 dian is a stunted plant, which seems as though it 

 formed a degenerate species. It rarely rises above three 

 feet from the ground, and sometimes scarcely a foot ; 

 and its branches in the- same way spread out only from 

 one foot to three. The Bourbon, which was originally 

 brought from the Mauritius, about the latter 



i i* j i -| i j • j "i j 1 1 Letters from 



end oi the last century, rises to about the the Collectors 

 same height as the Indian, but then it denary a Ma^ 

 spreads out its branches much more. The dura, Tmne- 

 New Orleans, however, rises to a far greater ^iatorefsup- 

 height than either the Bourbon or the In- plyiyg in'for- 

 dian, and spreads out its branches a great vrofefJn 

 deal more than either. But the root of the ^record?' 

 New Orleans does not strike so deeply into 

 the ground as either the Bourbon or the Indian ; and 

 consequently it is less able to bear a protracted drought 

 than either one or the other. This fact may be found 

 useful in explaining some of the results attendant upon 



* A still clearer idea of the different varieties of Cotton may be 

 gathered from a consideration of the different manufactured goods in 

 which they are employed. Thus the finest qualities of Cotton, or 

 those of the Sea Island class, are worked into lace and muslin of the 

 most beautiful texture. Other qualities, — Egyptian, New Orleans, 

 and Boweds, — are made into cambrics and calicoes for printing, as 

 well as into shirtings, sheetings, and fustians ; and, when mixed with 

 the better kinds of waste, into bed-covers and heavy fabrics. But 

 East Indian Cotton is rarely at present used alone, except for the 

 lowest purposes, because of its general inferiority ; and it is generally 

 disposed of in adulteration. Bazley's Lecture upon Cotton, p. 29. 

 "We might however remind Mr. Bazley that very beautiful muslins 

 are still manufactured by the native weavers at Dacca and Arnee 



