104 



Remarks on the Cultivation of Cotton. 



[July 



able by the seeds and qualities of the cotton ; the first sub-variety is 

 covered entirely with green fur, and has a beard of that colour at one 

 end, while the seed of the primary varieties is pure black, but is some- 

 times wholly or partially covered with white fur."* Here then it ap- 

 pears that neither the absence nor presence of fur, nor its colour, 

 afford any distinctive mark, since all the three smooth seeded varie- 

 ties of long staple cotton have sub-varieties with woolly seed, the 

 colour of which is sometimes green, sometimes white, while the fibre 

 of the green kinds is different, being considered of inferior quality. 



A rather remarkable circumstance, bearing on this point, was pre- 

 sented to my notice the other day. A quantity of smooth Egyptian 

 cotton seed was sown at Madras, a portion of the produce was pre- 

 sented to the Agri-Horticultural Society at its last meeting (5th July), 

 more than one half of which was covered with a thick coat of green 

 fur; of the remainder some seeds were partially covered with the 

 green, some with white, fur, and part quite smooth. The stock of seed 

 from which these were reared was received direct from Egypt, and was 

 nearly all smooth and black. While such changes take place, and with 

 such rapidity that they are completed in a single generation, it is im- 

 possible to adopt Mr. F.'s opinion as to the non-convertibility of varie- 

 ties into each other, especially of superior into inferior ; the opposite 

 change might not be so easily effected. Nor would it be safe to answer 

 in the negative the following question of Mr. Seabrook, though I con- 

 fess I cannot adduce any facts which would enable me to answer it in 

 the affirmative. " May not the seed of the Sea Island cotton have 

 been received from the isle of Bourbon, and may not the Bourbon 

 planters have got the seed of their highly prized cotton from Persia, 

 since it is now known that the Persian is no ways inferior to the Sea 

 Island, except in strength ?" Roxburgh, as already stated, supposes 

 the Bourbon cotton to be derived from the West Indies; an opinion in 

 which I confess I am inclined to agree, notwithstanding the West re- 

 ceived from the East (as stated by Mr. Seabrook) the genuine cinna- 

 mon and mango about the middle of the last century ; because it seems 

 exceedingly probable that ships might carry it back in exchange, and 

 it is highly improbable that the produce of the one remote island, 

 would spread rapidly over the numerous and widely separated islands 

 of the West Indies; while nothing is more probable than that it should 

 rapidly spread in Bourbon, where it had been ascertained, by a few 

 trials, that both the soil and climate were most favourable for its ex- 

 tended and profitable cultivation. 



However, be that as it may, it seems now most certain that 

 the absence or presence of fur on the seeds, so far from being 



* I here quote the meaning, not the exac t words, of Mr. Spalding. 



