The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1911-11-03

cannot be definitely eStab-
lished 1t does not appear
to have been cultivated or woven into
fabrics in ancient Egypt, and expert
chemical analysis of the cloths used
for wrapping Egyptian mummies
proves that these materials were OF
linen and not cotton. The records OF
India, on the other hand, demonstrate
that from time immemorial the cot
ton plant was cultivated and it's fiber
converted into wearing apparel, and en-
ployed in the useful and ornamental
arts. Cotton has also been known and
used for thousand years, at least, In
China and Japan. In the rich litera-
ture of India this benef1cent plant is
hardly more than incidentally men,
toned. It's textile value and uses
were known to the Hebrews and
Phoenicians, and probably, through
the latter to the Greeks and Romans.
The Arabs and Saracens introduced
cotton into western Europe in the
ninth century, but it was not until the
fifteenth century, when merchants OF
Genoa brought cotton to England, in
exchange for wooden goods, that it's
possible commercial and industrial
Importance was realized. Although
Columbus gives no description what
ever of the cotton plant, later Spanish
and Portuguese explorers found cot
ton garments worn and cotton ex-
tensively cultivated by the Indians on
the islands of the West Indies and
In Mexico, Peru and Brazil. Cortez
speaks highly of the skill of the Mex
lean natives in cotton weaving and
spinning. Pizarro found cotton fab
RIGS in ancient Peruvian tombs which
some modern archaeologists trace
back to a civilization antedating that
of the Incas. Early Portuguese his
torians describe cotton as they found
1t in Brazil
The cotton plant is member Of
the Maivaceoe or maliOw family, and
the total number of species actually
existing is very large. In it's wild
state it is apt to be perennial, but
when cultivated it frequently be-
comes an annual. In size the plant
varies from less than foot high to
sixteen or more feet. The flowers are
either single or in clusters, varying
greatly in size, while the color ranges
from a yellowish white to pale yell
low and rusty red. There are in
finite variations in the form and size
of the leaves, some being smooth and
glossy and others hairy. but they are
always lobed, having three. five or
seven lobes What is known as the
''boll' is. for manufacturing purposes,
the most important part Of the plant,
as it contains not only the seeds but
also the floss. The pure white va
rieties of floss. obtained by careful
cultivation and selection, are pre-
ferred. but among the brown and rust
colored varieties there are some of
high industrial value.
Cotton is primarily a native of the
tropics. and the number of species
diminish raridly in direct ratio to
their distance from the equator. The
cotton plant, whether wild or cult
waited, Is found in a belt of land en-
circling the globe between As de-
grees north latitude and 80 degrees
south latitude, though only where
local climatic conditions are favorable
can cotton be raised as far north as
As degrees. as for example in Asiatic
Russia, which has the same latitude
as Massachusetts.
The chief cotton-producing areas OF
the world embrace: In the United
States, the southern states, including
Ell those parallel with or south OF
North Carolina, as far west as New
Mexico; practically all of British In
dia; and Egypt, which ranks third as
cotton-producing country, followed
by Asiatic Russia, Central China and
Japan, Brazil, Mexico and Peru
Among other countries where cons;d
cradle quantities of cotton are grown
or can be grown, are Paraguay. Colon
bia, Venezuela and Central America
The Latin-American field has remark
able possibilities.
In the seventeenth century the fire
attempt to grow cotton was made II
Virginia, and by 1863 the staple hat
already become of much national i'm
portance in the British colonies n
North America.
Cotton In England became a com
petitor to the then strongly in
trenched wooden industry, and IT
manufacture being made profitabl,
through the great inventions Of Arb
wright and others, 1t received govern
mental protection and encouragement
Arkwright's and other English patent
were introduced into America. and !