A NEW COTTON PLANT.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 1, 6 October 1877, Page 3

A NEW COTTON PLANT.

You will be glad to icccivc an account of trre remaiKablu discovery of a now mtiofl plant, which, from nfl ippcaraucca, ia destined in I veiy few years to create quite a revolution in the • otton ogricuhura and busineet \>t Egypt, 'pmious are divided an to the wlflin of t flit* welcome atrangrr. Signer GttOHBO I. -i • i the Am -ti tan eoiwuliu- agent in the

ni.ml nupmiaitl cotton .1: -1 tut hu published an intannllns account <if the discovery of the n«-w pl-uit tod of what has resulted uini is liWelv to result there from. I eanuot do better than give you an abstract of this rvport. The u>w plant was discovered on the cultivated property of a Copt, in the Menuti;. district, about two yeais ago. It wi> found among other cotton plants, and at once attracted attention by its diHerent appearance, and also by bearing more pods, lu the hope of benefitting by the discovery, the owner isolated the plant and carefully cultivated and observed it. Next year he ascertained beyond all doubt that the produce was of asuperior quality, and that its cultivation in Egypt presented no difficulty. So much interest was. excited by the discovery that the small quantity of seed that could be collected w.13 sold at twelve Egytian sovereigns the ardeb—a high price, when it is remembered that the very best seed of other cotton never exceeds £1 per ardeb. Signer Russi mentions that by many people the plant is supposed to be the growth of seed imported from the Brazil;;, while others think it the result of a mere chance combination of mixed seed. Signor Russi does not accept either view, and proceeds to describe the plant as having a long stem and being without branches, so that a good deal of space is saved in cultivation to the advantage of course of the cultivator. The new plant bears on an average from i~> to 50 pods, whereas the usual cotton plant averages from 2o to '•',■>. The yield of the former has been from 9 to lj cantars perfeddan; the yield of the latter is usually from 4 to 9 cantars. The crop is thus doubled. For sowing, too, a smaller quantity of the new seed is required. The usual amount of seed for one feddan is 1J keli. Of the new seed only one keli is necessary. The only drawback to the new plant is that it requires more water, and that the soil is thereby impoverished. To remedy this it would be necessary to sow alternately year by year a crop of grain or vegetables.—" Exchange."