176 
COTTON PLANT. 
In Calabria, the districts in the neighbourhood of 
the town of Lecce, in Otranto, and Gallipoli, are 
more particularly appropriated to the cultivation of 
the cotton plant. They plough the ground in Ja- 
nuary, and again in April : in May they sow the 
seed, and gather the fruit in September or October. 
They export the greatest part of their produce, 
either in the form of thread, or in other states. In 
Lecce they manufacture common muslins, and in 
several other towns they work the cotton into stock- 
ings and counterpanes. 
In Syra, one of the islands in the Archipelago, 
the inhabitants are careful to prepare the cotton- 
seed before they sow it, and for this purpose they 
proceed in the following manner : having procured 
a quantity of river-sand, they mix it with the seed, 
pouring water repeatedly over the mass, and stirring 
it well together : it is then rubbed with their hands 
on a flat stone, until all the down which may have 
adhered to the seed is separated, after which it is 
cleaned from the sand, and fit to be sown. The 
species which they cultivate in this island is not so 
handsome as some ; nevertheless it produces a red- 
dish cotton of a good quality, which becomes per- 
fectly white after repeated washings. 
Some years ago the cotton plant was raised with 
success in Spain ; so much so, that in the province 
of Valencia a sufficient quantity of land was occu- 
pied by it, to produce in the year 1783 four hun- 
dred weight of cotton. 
