1.We do not know when cotton was first used for clothing.People learned to cultivate useful plants long before they learned to write,and so none of our books are old enough to tell us who were the first farmers,or bakers,or weavers.But it is only about a hundred years since cotton cloth was woven in this country.
2.Indian muslins have long been famed for their beauty.A traveller,writing more than two hundred years ago,mentions some muslins that were "so fine you could hardly feel them in your hand;"and another traveller describes a fabric"so exceeding fine that when laid on the grass,and dew has fallen on it,it is no longer visible ."
3.These delicate materials were woven on looms of the coarsest and simplest kind;and now,when the machinery has been made better,the natives seem to have lost much of their former skill,so that the new fabrics are by no means so fine as the old.
4.When America was discovered by Columbus,over four hundred years ago,cotton was found growing there,and the natives showed some skill in weaving it into cloth.The United States of America has long held the first place among the cotton-growing countries of the world,and from it we get most of our raw cotton.For many years,indeed until about thirty years ago,the work in the cotton fields there was performed by negro slaves;but after a long war,all the slaves were freed in 1865.
5.Cotton is planted in the spring.The seeds are dropped into furrows,and covered over with about an inch of soil.When the young plants are from six to ten inches high,they are thinned out,the stronger ones only being left standing.
6.Soon afterwards the top bud is nipped off the main shoot of each plant,so that it may send out more side shoots,and thus bear more blossoms.The flowers begin to appear among the dark glossy leaves when the plant is from two to three feet high.
7.The blossom lasts only two days.When it opens,after sunrise in the morning,it is yellow or white in colour.It begins to close soon after noon,when a pale red streak may be seen running up each of its petals,and it is wholly closed by sunset.
8.Next morning,about sunrise,it opens again,as fresh as ever;but it is now a beautiful pink.It lasts till sunset,when it again closes;but this time the petals wither and fall off,and leave a little pod,or boll as it is called,about the size of a small bean.
9.This boll contains the seeds,surrounded by a white pulp.The pulp dries up as the boll ripens,and the coats of the seeds become covered with long silky hairs.These hairs grow longer and longer until they completely fill the boll,and at last they burst it open and hang out in snowy tufts several inches long.
10.The sooner these tufts are picked now,the better for the strength and whiteness of the cotton.From the middle of August to the end of September is the usual picking season.The soft white wool is gathered in bags or baskets,and spread out on the ground to dry.
11.The fibres have next to be separated from the seeds on which they grow.This was formerly done by hand,and it took a long time.It is now done much more rapidly by a machine called a cotton-gin.After being "ginned,"the cotton is packed into bales for the market.
12.In the factory the bale cotton is first cleaned and combed or carded,and twisted into loose,coarse threads.These loose threads are then spun into yarn,stout or fine as may be required,and last of all the yarn is woven into webs of cloth.
13.The great usefulness of the cotton fibre is due to the fact that it can be twisted into a thread.Perfectly smooth fibres will not form a thread when they are twisted,but pull apart from each other.When seen through a microscope,the cotton fibre looks like a curling flat ribbon with thickened edges.
14.The seeds of the cotton plant are also useful.Those not needed for sowing are pressed between heavy rollers,when they yield a valuable oil which is used for cooking purposes,for making soap,and for mixing paints.The crushed mass of seeds is made into cotton-seed cakes which is used for feeding cattle.
