COTTON

Crude cotton is the soft, woolly fibre contained in the seed "boll" of the cotton-plant. The boll bursts when ripe, presenting then the appearance of a small bunch of cotton-wool attached to the dried calyx. The fibre varies from one-half inch to two inches in length, is either white or yellow in color and is variously named from the land on which it is cultivated, the place of production, etc., as Upland Cotton, Sea Island Cotton, Florida Cotton, etc. The seeds scattered through the fibre are extracted by means of the machine known as the cotton-gin.