In fragrant fields where graze the herds
And all along the old highway,
The boys and girls among the birds
Call each to each the livelong day.
Bob White, Bob White, pipes out the quail
From old fence posts and mossy stones,
In meadows where the ripened grain
In golden stacks awaits the flail.
A little tuft of feathers grey
That snaps its bill in eager glee
When e’er a fly is caught on wing,
Full forty times calls out Phoebe.
When fragrant dews fall from the sky—
And sinks the sun behind the hill,
From dark’ning woods rings out the cry,
O Whip poor Will—O Whip poor Will.
—Blandina D. Miller.
THE COTTON PLANT.
(_Gossypium barbadense_, L.)
Theise men ben the beste worchers of Gold, Sylver, Cottoun, Sylk and
of all such things of any other, that be in the World.
—Mandeville, Travels, p. 212.
The cotton plant is undoubtedly one of the most useful plants in the
entire vegetable kingdom. As with other exceedingly useful, though
common things, we are so accustomed to the blessings we owe to this
plant that we almost entirely lose sight of its identity and very
existence.
There are a number of cotton yielding plants which belong to the genus
Gossypium of the Mallow family (Malvaceæ), the same family to which the
Hibiscus and garden mallows belong. The most important species are G.
barbadense, which yields the noted Sea Island cotton, and G. herbaceum.
Both are extensively cultivated in the United States, the latter species
more than the former. Other more or less cultivated species are G.
arboreum, G. religiosum and G. punctatum. The cottons are handsome
plants with large, showy yellow or purple flowers. They vary from
comparatively small and herbaceous to shrubby or even approaching the
dimensions of trees. The seeds are borne in a three to five lobed
capsule, which ruptures at maturity, thus allowing the snow-white cotton
head to appear. The outer surface of the seeds is covered with slender
fibers, each fiber being simply a single, greatly elongated epidermal
cell. The individual fiber is flattened, twisted upon its axis,
flexuous, from one to two or three inches in length. These fibers
constitute the cotton of the market, which finds so many important uses
in human economy. Of course primarily nature intended these fibers for
the special use of the plant itself; being a means of aiding in the
distribution of the seeds, and no doubt also serving as a protection
against being eaten by animals, as the dense, more or less intertwined
growth of insipid, tenacious fibers constitute anything but a tempting
morsel. Man, by his ingenuity and skill, has been enabled to utilize
this product of nature in his own behalf.
The commercial and technical uses of cotton date back to very remote
antiquity. Cotton fabrics were in use in China as early as 2300 B. C. At
the discovery of America, beautiful cotton fabrics were found in Brazil,
Peru, Mexico and the West Indies. According to the eminent Greek
historian and traveler, Herodotus, cotton clothing was quite universally
worn 484 B. C. The finest cloth came from the valleys of the Ganges, and
not until the close of the campaigns of Alexander the Great did the
manufacture of cotton cloth become a distinctive industry in Greece. It
appears that during the time of Pharaoh cotton was yet a rare article
since it is recorded that this eminent ruler presented Joseph with a
costly coat made of this material, as a memento of high esteem. It is
also a notable fact that the Egyptian mummies are swathed in linen
instead of cotton cloth. No cotton seeds have ever been found in the
ancient tombs of Egypt, nor is the plant represented upon the ancient
mural paintings of that country.
In the eastern continent India was no doubt the principal cotton growing
country; even China obtained its principal supply from that source. Not
until about the ninth century of our era was cotton extensively
cultivated in China. About the second century Arabian merchants brought
cotton from India and began to cultivate it in the vicinity of the Red
Sea, and from thence it gradually found its way into Spain about the
sixteenth century, and from Spain into Italy and Greece.
No one knows exactly when cotton began to be used and cultivated in the
western continent; we know that it must have been used a long time
before the discovery of America by Columbus, for reasons already given.
Mexican and South American mummy cloth is found to consist largely of
cotton.
[Illustration: COTTON.
(Gossypium barbadense.)
FROM KŒHLER’S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.]
Description of Plate.—A, B, branch of cotton plant; 1, sepal; 2,
flowering bud; 3, petal; 4, 5, stamen; 6, pollen grain; 7, pistil; 8,
8a, 9, flower; 10, 11, 12, immature fruit; 13, ripe fruit; 14, 15,
seed.
Cotton is now extensively cultivated in the warmer countries of both
hemi-spheres—in the southern United States since the sixteenth century.
The cotton plant is in reality a perennial, becoming quite shrubby with
age, but in cultivation it is treated as an annual, being grown from
seeds planted each spring. Three or four seeds are planted to each hill,
the hills being about three feet apart. After sprouting the weaker
individuals are removed, and at the end of three or four months the
remaining carefully cultivated plants are pruned to make them more
spreading and give a better yield of cotton. The plants grow quite
rapidly, the cotton maturing about five months after planting. With the
exception of the pruning, the planting and cultivation of cotton in the
southern states is not unlike the planting and cultivation of corn in
the middle states.
The cotton is picked by hand into bags or baskets, spread out and dried,
and finally carted to the cotton gin, a machine invented by Eli Whitney
(1793), which separates the fibers from the seeds. The cotton is now
pressed into bales, weighing from 400 to 500 pounds, for shipment. The
cotton fiber is subjected to further processes of cleaning, carding,
etc., before it is ready to be manufactured into cloth fabrics, thread,
etc.
Nearly all parts of the cotton plant find a use. After the cotton is
picked, the stalks are burnt upon the fields or “plowed under” to serve
as a fertilizer for the soil, which would otherwise become impoverished
very rapidly. The bark of the root is collected and employed
medicinally, its medicinal properties being highly lauded by the negroes
of the South. The seeds yield the cottonseed oil, which is not unlike
olive oil. This oil, however, varies in purity, the purest being used as
an adulterant of olive oil or as a substitute for this oil. The less
pure grades are used for burning, but more in the preparation of woollen
cloth and morocco leather, also as a lubricant for machinery. It is also
used as a substitute for almond oil and olive oil in many pharmaceutical
preparations and in the manufacture of soap. The seeds from which the
oil has been expressed constitute the cottonseed cake, used as a
nutritious cattle fodder. In the South a tea made from the seeds is
considered a useful remedy in the treatment of malaria and dysentery. A
tea made from the leaves is much used medicinally in Jamaica and other
islands of the West Indies.
It is, however, the fiber, or cotton, which is the important part of the
plant. It would be a tedious and difficult task to describe, or even
enumerate, all of the uses to which it is put. It is used as wadding in
clothing and quilts. It is used by the bacteriologist in the filtration
of air; air passed through a layer of cotton is germ free. It is also
used in the filtration of liquids. Purified and variously prepared,
cotton is almost indispensable in surgery. It forms an excellent
protective covering for wounds, ulcers, burns and scalds. It absorbs
secretions and arrests hemorrhages. It is used in the preparation of gun
cotton (pyroxylin) nitro-cellulose, collodion and flexible collodion.
Gun cotton is prepared by treating cotton with strong nitric acid and is
used in gunnery, blasting and in photography. Collodion (collodium) and
flexible collodion are used in surgery, in the treatment of ulcers, skin
diseases, to arrest hemorrhages, applied to inflamed areas, etc.
The most important part of the entire plant is the fiber or cotton as it
is used in the manufacture of cloth. The modern method of cotton
manufacture does not date back further than 1760. Prior to that time
weaving and spinning were altogether domestic. At first the work was
done by means of the ancient distaff and spindle, more recently the
spinning wheel. By these only one thread could be produced at a time
and, as may be imagined, the process was very slow. Furthermore, the
yarn produced was inferior. A fairly good thread could be spun from
flax, but the softness, shortness and unevenness of the cotton fiber
made it difficult to produce a good uniform yarn by means of such crude
apparatus. In fact, so poor was the yarn produced that in weaving it was
used only for the weft (transverse thread), while linen, woolen or
worsted yarn was used for the warp (longitudinal thread), in order that
the cloth might have sufficient durability. During the middle of the
eighteenth century the machinery for spinning was much more imperfect
than the machinery for weaving. As a consequence, it became necessary to
produce better spinning machines. In 1767 Hargreaves invented the
“jenny” which spun eight threads at a time. In 1769 Arkwright invented
the “waterframe,” or “throstle,” by means of which a much firmer yarn
was produced. In 1785 Dr. Cartwright invented the “power loom,” which
far surpassed any previous spinning machine. Other improvements were
added from time to time, culminating in our highly perfected modern
machines, which would require volumes for a complete description. We
have machines with thousands of spindles. It is possible to weave a
thread one thousand miles or more in length, yet weighing but one pound.
The raw cotton must be subjected to various processes before it is ready
for spinning. The bales are opened and the cotton sorted, so as to
insure a uniform quality. It is then passed through a scutching,
willowing or cleaning machine, where all impurities and undesirable
foreign particles are removed. Next it is passed through a carding
machine, which straightens out the fibers and lays them parallel. It
also passes through the spreading machine, roving machine and finally to
the spinning machine.
The finer yarns are spun from Sea Island cotton, from which fine
muslins, laces, etc., are made. This cotton has long fibers. The good
qualities of short cottons are used in the manufacture of cambrics,
calicoes, sheetings, shirtings, etc. Inferior grades of cotton are used
for coarse yarns in the manufacture of coarse fabrics. Cotton is also
mixed with wool. Yorkshire broadcloth is said to be about half cotton.
From warps of cotton and wefts of wool or worsted (a variety of wool)
are formed Orleans cloths, Coburgs, mousselines de laine, damasks, etc.
There are also fabrics composed of silk and cotton, linen and cotton,
alpaca and cotton, etc. It is used in the manufacture of cotton thread
for sewing and pack thread for tying bundles, and other cordage.
Albert Schneider.