Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-01-19
TURAL.
a. Plant.

Oishbs
I4eAss Plant
- y the Cotton Exposition in
years ago. may remember
1 growing near the Fair
eral specimens of the
. a plant There were
' ~ ,. but all belonged TO
ecies. quite distinct
- --- lcrally known In the
re- plant was very
It's general appearance.
-@.ill and scrubby, with small
Jed leaves, and o remarkably
t yellow flower. The seeds were
overed with fuzzy looking,
THdown. And t'orfIr's pro-
I built nyas quite shsoutbful Homo very
And de- .,eamers CAV:
cred was the gosv weeping love, cum Of
anu ,anist, and is IS the
'over the" the "Madrahed, ~.Short
,w isl Staple ofs,s As sns .o,, An
Andvariety Gays smiles. sis tho
,rafe1ar 4 from
ssa cried sO !. 49, s,,ls .s@pS supposedt6
have originated in the great valley Of.
tho Yantgze, near the ap"'snt capital
of the Chinese EmYdrifted off .these va
rieties have subsoiea, n intro
duced in tho Unfit love at hop'but it is
apprehended they A'' degenerate
into coarse staple Sunset Isparatively
little commercial valel gold
Botanists tell us there are but four
distinct primary species Of the cotton
plant, although there are con-
stantly increasing varieties of
the same species. brought about
by climatic and other causes.
Three of these species seem to be in
digenous to the American continent;
and, strange to say, neither Of them
have ever been successfully repro
duced in Southern Asia, any more than
the distinctively Asiatic species has
ever been successfully reproduced in
the United States.
At the head of the list as having
greater commercial value than any of
the others. is the gosypium Barba-
dense OF the "Sea Island Cotton" of
commerce. 1t has never been success
fully cultivated outside the States of
Georgia. South Carolina and Florida;
nor even in these States very far from
the coast Ishome is upon the islands
and small portions of the main land
OF the three Safes named. Efforts
have failed to naturalize it in Asia.
And when transplanted to the uplands
of Georgia, it soon dcgenerates, and
loses its distinctive qualities. The
saline ingredients Of soil and atmos-
phere, peculiar 10 certain districts on
our Southern coast. are indispensable
elements of its growth.
The species of the next highest i'm
portance had its origin on the Pacific
slopes of South America, and is known
to botaniss as the gosypium Peruvi-
anum. Notwithsi anding its name, it
seems to have been of CHILEAN origin,
though it will be remembered that the
present territory of Chill was first
known 10 Europeans as "Peru." The
green seed" cotton, now so common
in all our cotton-producIng States, is
a variety of this species, just as the
''black seed'' is a variety Of the bar
badense.
The third species is that of Asia, al
ready noticed, and known as gosypium
nerbaceum There are several varic-
ties of it now grown in the United
States; but even superficial COMPARE
son of the staple produced from ii
here, with that produced from it in the
land of its nativity. will show n very
marked degeneration. especially after
the first crop. Just why this should be
so, pretend not to know; but l mere
" stale fact falling under my own
observation. The fourth and last spe-
cies is the gosypium arboreum. 1t is,
rs the name implies, a large tree-like
plant, aud produces fine yellowish
white wool, but of so very short staple
as to be practically worthless in COM
MERGE. 1t is a perennial, and is
found all the way from the 18th
mus of Panama to the deer
valleys of the remote interior o.
Colombia, some six hundred miles
from the coast Its usual height j:
from eight to twelve feet, though
have frequently seen it as high al
twenty. It has sometimes been con
founded with what is vulgarly known
rs the wool tree" of New Granada
which is, however, y very dilferen
thing.
have always had tho impression
that the arboreum might, by propel
Utilization and care. in latitudes soutl
I the frost line, be developed into
ong staple, and thus made valuabl,
In commerce. But this. so far as an
aware. has never been attempted il
the land of its nativity, and there i
no places in the United States. unles
lit be in Florida and Southern Cali
fornia, where the experiment could b,
made with any reasonable prospect o
success. William L. Scrugqs, Il
Southern Caitiuator.