The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-07-26
MEXICAN TREE COTTON.

Below we publish an article from The
American Cotton Manufacturer on the
subject Of the Mexican Tree Cotton
This article will be of interest to cotton
rover and cotton manufacturers
alike. 1t looks as IL there were some
thing In this new kind of cotton that
is worth the attention Of the southern
people. The advice of The Cotton Man.
ufacturer that state agricultural de-
should experiment with tn a
tree is good, and we would like to. see
a thorough test made. We wish that
paper would give the pubic, more in
formation on this intere. ting subject.
For instance, how lon1 does it a k to
grow a treeNto be-. ring age? What is
the average production yearly per tree?
What is the average life of the trees?
We hope Tie Cotton Manufacturer will
continue its investigation into this mat
ter and give the public the benefit of
what information it gathers. That pa
per says:
Never has there been such world wide
| agitation looking to the charging of
NHS "NA@3 SONNo- SePPAy oo 60
Practically every country which is en-
gagged in the manufacture of cotton into
goods has increased its productive ca
pacity very materially during the past
few years and the increase in the sup
ply Of the raw material cannot be said
to lave kept pace with the augmenta-
ton of the mills.
| In a recent issue We gave a brief de-
scrfption of a few samples of Mexican
tree cotton which had been sent to this
| office by one of our correspondents in
| the City of Mexico.
A closer examination of the four spec
linens sent reveals a quality that can
be considered as a commercial fibre. We
are informed that the cotton was taken
from trees which are found growing
wild in the state of Jalisco which lies
on the west coast of he country. being
| one Of the central states. At a few
places the product of the trees is being
made into coarse cloth by the natives.
! The yield is continuous and everything
| indicates that this arboraceous variety
may be made a commercial success not
only in it's native habitat, but in the
United States since it is said that not
only is the yield continuous, but that
the tree will stand both frost and
drought.
Their are four distinct samples which
we class about as follows: Two are
very white and silky while the others
are rather harsh, one being evidently
much stained. The staple Of the four
lots runs from one and one sixteenth
inches to one and one quarter inches
One sample contained an abnormal
amount of waste, but the others were
remarkably uniform in length. The
strength of the ibres is a prominent
characteristic, being if anything strong.
er than a ''peoler' cotton Of the same
length. ALI the samples o make
excellent yarns and goods with n ex'
ception, which was weak and only suit
able for the making of filling yarns fol
fabrics which require a soft ooz!
thread. The seed is smooth and black
resembling very@H1dch that of tn
American Sea Island variety.
Considering the interest that is nov
being taken in cotton and everything
that bears on the future supply an
value of the staple, we suggest as
good plan to arrive at the value of thii
tree that the various agricultural ex
pertinent stations in the cotton CROWN.
states obtain a supply of seed, and ex
pertinent with it as to the ~Suitabilit.
of the plant for growing in their severa
territories. If prospects for it's profita
BILE growth in this country are as prom
ising as our superficial examination In
dicates we should not hesitate to avail
ourselves of this new source of wealth
as soon as its practicability is demon
stated.