182 
COTTON PLANT. 
a negro collects the cotton in a proper manner, he 
draws the branches of the plant gently towards 
him, and is careful not to bruise them, as he is 
well aware that if the branches are injured the cap- 
sules which are not quite ripe will never come to 
perfection. The baskets used for the purpose of col- 
lecting the cotton, hold about fifty pounds weight, 
which, when full, they carry to the master’s house, 
and spread the contents to dry in the sun, on 
cloths. After the cotton has been thus exposed for 
two or three days, it is picked, and then carried to 
the magazine. This repository is supported on 
strong piles of wood, lined with tin; which prevents 
the rats, which are extremely fond of cotton seeds, 
from doing any mischief. 
The cotton is separated from the seeds by being 
passed between rollers of wood, placed in a hori- 
zontal direction, one above another, and turned by 
means of a handle. Some of these cotton-mills are 
constructed upon a very large scale, and turned by 
water. The French have one in the island of St. 
Lucia which turns a roller forty feet long, and 
twenty in diameter. But this is not all ; for the 
same cylinder during its rotation turns eight or ten 
smaller mills to which it it is connected. 
The cotton is packed for exportation in bags or 
sacks, which for this purpose are suspended on 
stakes. After a certain quantity of cotton is put 
in, a negro treads it down, and that it may lie the 
closer it is not unusual to wet the sack. The com- 
