pounds each. About the same amount is annually imported into the United States from Egypt.

The upland cotton of the United States is mostly derived from Gossypium herbaceum. In this country the varieties of this species have white flowers, which turn red the second day after opening. The fibre of this series is shorter, but the plant can be cultivated over a greater extent of territory than the others. The seed of the upland varieties is usually of a greenish color and has a closely adherent gray fuzz in addition to the longer lint, making the process of ginning more difficult. There are doubtless many hybrids between these series, as may be seen in the character of some upland cottons. In 1896 descriptions were published in the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin 33, of more than 130 varieties of cotton in cultivation in the United States at that time, together with about an equal number of so-called varieties which were only old ones renamed. Most of these varieties were upland cottons, and they varied widely in their production and character of lint. Gossypium arboreum is a small tree rather common about the temples of India and China, but it is said never to be cultivated as a regular crop. The trees are rather short-lived, and they yield a fine, silky fibre an inch or more in length. This is called Nurma or Deo cotton and is little used except by the priestly class. It is probable that its value has been overrated. It will not mature in the United States. The origin of the cottons supposed to be derived from Gossypium Peruvianum is somewhat in doubt. They are South American, as their name would indicate, and their smooth black seeds adhere in a reniform mass, hence the name 'kidney cotton,' which is usually applied to them. Their fibre is strong, rather coarse and woolly, one and one-half inches or less in length, and from its great resemblance to wool is frequently used in combination with that staple. About 15,000 bales are annually imported into the United States, and it is claimed that most of it is used by woolen manufacturers to mix in making underwear, hosiery, etc., much of the material being sold as all-woolen goods.

In commercial usage, to fibres under 0.98 inch or 25 millimeters in length there has been given the name 'short staple'; 'medium' means from 0.98 to 1.17 inches (25 to 30 millimeters), and 'long' 1.18 to 1.57 inches (30 to 40 millimeters); 'extra,' including those which are 1.58 inches (40 millimeters) or more. The extra and the long in the United States seem to come from Sea Island cotton or some of its hybrids; the short and medium from Gossypium hirsutum or Gossypium herbaceum.

The commercial classification of cotton in New York is as follows: The full grades' are fair, middling fair, good middling, middling, low middling, good ordinary, and ordinary. Half grades are designated by the prefix 'strict,' quarter goods by prefixes barely,' meaning the point above half grade and the next full grade above, and 'fully,' meaning the mean point between the half grade and the next full grade below. Liverpool high grades are lower, and low grades higher than New York.

CULTIVATION. The plant requires for its best development a peculiar soil and climate. While the method of cultivation is about the same in the various countries where it is grown, that in

the United States is the most perfect. Although the plant is not really an annual, it is treated as such in its cultivation. The land is prepared in winter, the time of beginning varying with the locality. After thorough plowing, and after all frost has gone, the ground is bedded into rows from three to four feet wide, according to situation and the quality of the soil; the seed is sown along the centre of these beds, either in a straight furrow made with a small plow or opener, or in holes twelve to eighteen inches apart. Where artificial fertilizers or cottonseed-meal are drilled in this method of preparation is indispensable. The usual date to begin preparing land is from January 15 in southern Texas to March 5 in South Carolina. Sowing usually commences March 10 to April 15 and continues to May 15; but late spring frosts may delay it longer. The young shoots, which appear in from ten to fifteen days, are weeded and thinned when they have attained a height of two to six inches, say, when the third or first true leaf appears. The average date of bloom is June 5. As a general rule, cotton is a dry-weather plant, heavy rainfall interfering with both the culture and the stand, although an extremely dry spring interferes with the growth. For plowing it is best to have just enough rain to make the soil moist and spongy. When young, the crop flourishes best with warm steamy weather, with an occasional shower until blooming. An excess of rain produces weeds and wood; severe drought stunts the plant, matures it too early, and causes a small, light-stapled crop. Early frost causes the plant to turn brown; cold nights cause many of the plants to die. Lands in hilly or upland districts require more moisture than those lying in the plains and river bottoms. Overflowing often causes injury on bottom and flat prairie lands, but replanting or recuperation often redeems the most hopeless cases. Where, however, overflowing causes 'sanding,' the land is rendered utterly useless for cotton culture that year. The experiment stations in the Southern States have aided in introducing improved methods of cultivating, fertilizing, and handling the crop. Rotation of crops and green manuring have been shown to be of great advantage. From the date of bloom, warm, dry weather is needful, until picking time, which usually commences from July 10 in southern Texas up to September 10 in Tennessee, and continues until frost puts a stop to further growth. During the harvest all available hands are called into full employment. The cotton is gathered into baskets or bags hung from the shoulders of the pickers, and when the crop has been secured it is spread out, dried, and then the fibre separated from the seeds. For long-staple or Sea Island cotton in South Carolina the usual date to begin preparing land is February 1; planting begins April 1 and ends May 1; picking is from August 25 to December 10.

INSECT ENEMIES OF THE COTTON-PLANT. See COTTON-INSECTS.

COTTON DISEASES. There are a number of wellcharacterized diseases of the cotton-plant, some of which are due to disturbances in the nutrition of the plant, others are caused by fungous attacks, while still others are attributed to the presence of minute worms, called nematodes, in the roots. Attention to the requirements of the plants will correct the first class of diseases. For the fungous troubles but little in the way of prevention

is known. Among the most important diseases due to physiological causes are those known as the mosaic disease or yellow leaf-blight, and the shedding of bolls. In the first, small areas of the leaves become yellow, giving to the leaf a peculiar checkered appearance. Later these areas turn brown and dry up, leaving the leaf in a more or less ragged condition. At this stage the disease is usually referred to as the black rust. Heavy applications of kainit or similar fertilizer are said to correct this evil. The shedding of the bolls, or their drying up while still attached to the plant, is often a serious trouble. Extreme dry or wet weather causes this disease by interfering with the proper supply of moisture and nutriment furnished the plant through its roots. Among the diseases due to parasitic fungi a few of the most serious and widely distributed may be mentioned. Damping off, soreshin, or seedling rot is caused by Pythium debaryanum and a number of other fungi. They attack the young plants at or near the surface of the ground, producing ulcer-like spots, and later rot the plant off. The sunken, ulcer-like spots can be readily seen on the affected stems. Another common disease is anthracnose, due to Colletotrichum gossypii. It is a widely distributed fungus that attacks the bolls, stems, and leaves. Upon the bolls small reddish spots appear which later become black. The centre then becomes gray or pink and the spots enlarge in a concentric manner with well-marked zones of color. The boll is killed outright or has its development checked so that the lint is worthless. Upon the stems the fungus is somewhat similar in its behavior, although the spots are not quite so definitely marked. Upon the leaves the disease is not very well characterized. A root-rot is very destructive in some places. Its behavior is so marked as to need no description. It is due to a rather widely distributed fungus that has been called Ozonium auricomum. It attacks a number of plants in addition to cotton. Rotation of crops is about the only method of relief known. A_leaf-blight (Sphærella gossypina) and a mildew (Ramularia areola) are common diseases in the cotton-field, but they seldom occasion much injury. The most serious fungous disease to which the cotton-plant is subject is the wilt disease, or Frenching, as it is commonly known. It makes its appearance usually in May, when the plants are six or eight inches high. The plants are dwarfed, have an unhealthy appearance, the leaves turn yellow between the veins and their margins dry up. Sometimes plants wilt and die at once, while at other times the progress of the disease is slower and the plant may partly recover. A plant attacked by this disease will show a brownish stained color in the wood when cut across. The cause of the trouble is a fungus recently described as Neocosmospora vasinfecta, and the same or a closely related form occurs on the okra and watermelon. Some varieties and individual plants seem less liable to this disease, which attacks the plants through the soil, and it is thought the means for overcoming this trouble lies in resistant plants. This disease, as well as some others, is very much complicated by the presence in the roots of the cotton of nematodes (Heterodera radicicola), minute worms that enter the roots of cotton and a number of other plants, causing a large number of galls to be formed. The plant is injured by the nourish

COTTON.

ment taken from other parts of the plant to make the galls. This weakens the plant so it is more liable to fungous attack. When nematodes occur in abundance in the field no entirely ellicient means of eradication is known as yet.

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. The oldest known cotton-producing country is India, where for thirty centuries the plant has been grown and its fibre manufactured. For four hundred years before the Christian Era cotton was well known in what was then the civilized world, the writings of the Greeks and Egyptians plainly indicating the knowledge of the value of this fibre. Columbus found it in the Western world, although not so extensively cultivated as in the East; but during the past fifty years its culture here has distanced in quantity and in quality the produce of the Old World. Down to 1800 the cotton-consumers of Europe depended upon the Indies and the Levant for their raw material; but by 1860, so far had the inventive genius, the superior farming, and the greater energy of the planter of our Southern States pushed the production of the fibre, that they furnished the greater part of the cotton used by Great Britain and the Continent of Europe. From 1858 to 1860 America furnished 79 per cent. of the cotton imported into Great Britain. During our Civil War this dropped to 31⁄2 per cent., rising to 58 per cent. in 1871, and amounting to 80 per cent. in 1900. During the Civil War, when the price of cotton was abnormally high, attempts were made to grow cotton in many countries. The industry flourished there for a while, but it has ceased to be profitable in Europe, Australia, etc. Russia in her Asiatic possessions has developed cotton-growing greatly in recent years, so that the imports into the empire have fallen off 50 per cent. in the past decade.

COTTON PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD. This is difficult to more than approximate, as a large proportion and amount consumed is produced in uncivilized or in semi-civilized countries, where no accurate record is kept; and in many countries and districts absolutely no data are available as in China, where soil and climate are favorable and the clothing of the population is largely of cotton, yet the extent of its cultivation is a close secret; and in some parts of India, where the production can be estimated only by the amount in sight and the known or assumed requirements for dress. The amount produced in the vast unknown continent of Africa is even more of a mystery, although native cottons form there a large proportion of the dress.

The commercial crop for the year 1902-3 was 12,430,000 bales of 500 pounds each. This includes the total crop of the United States and the known imports into Europe and America from other cotton-producing countries. The product was divided as follows: United States, 10,380,000 bales; Egypt, 1,243,000 bales; India, China, etc., 604,000; Brazil, 146,000 bales; Peru, West Indies, etc., 35,000; and Turkey, Asia Minor, etc., 22,000. The domestic consumption in those countries from which only the exportations are given would add very materially to the total production of the world. India leads in the domestic consumption of cotton among those countries not reporting, and in 1900 about 1,100,000 bales were consumed by the local mills. According to Latham, Alexander & Co., the total production for 1904-5 was: United States, 13,420,440