No attempt has been made in these studies to enter very deeply into the technical processes involved, the purpose being more to give a condensed outline of the subject from the layman’s point of view. While actual survey and observation were extensively made in each case, a great part of the material has of necessity been obtained from standard works on these subjects. In this connection we wish especially to render acknowledgment to Professor M. T. Copeland of Harvard University, whose studies were freely used by the author of Part I on Cotton. In the case of Silk, we are particularly grateful to Mr. W. D. Darby, whose “Silk, The Queen of Fabrics” has been of invaluable assistance. To the many friends in the textile trades who have provided opportunities for first hand observation, as well as a wealth of information, we tender our sincere thanks and grateful appreciation. INTERNATIONAL ACCEPTANCE BANK, INC. _New York, N. Y., October, 1924._ PART ONE COTTON By JAMES PAUL WARBURG Vice-President INTERNATIONAL ACCEPTANCE BANK, INC. Photographs by courtesy of the Pacific Mills and Keystone View Co. [Illustration: _Cotton Field_] CHAPTER I THE RAW MATERIAL 1. THE COTTON PLANT [Sidenote: _Derivation of Names_] The word, “Cotton”, is said to be derived from an Arabic word, “Qutun”, originally meaning flax; and the botanical name of the plant, Gossypium, signifying the fleece worn, was first found in the writings of Pliny, and is derived from the Sanskrit. Thus, in the mere origins of the colloquial and scientific designations of the plant, we have ample proof of its antiquity. [Sidenote: _Botanical Types_] The cotton plant belongs to the mallow family and is a native of the tropics. The genus has a great many botanical varieties, all of which, in the wild state, are perennial, but under cultivation tend to become annual. One variety, Gossypium Arboreum, which is found chiefly in Mexico and Brazil, attains a height of over fifteen feet. This tree cotton, however, has not been extensively cultivated because of the obvious expense of picking. Of the herbaceous varieties the most commonly known are the American and the long-staple Egyptian. G. Barbadense, known as Sea Island cotton, is another long staple variety which is grown only in certain counties of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. [Sidenote: _The Cotton Plant_] [Sidenote: _The Fibre_]