In all the cultivated species the plant attains a height of two to four feet. The leaves vary, but all have characteristic lobes. The blossoms also vary a good deal in color, but have this in common that the seeds are contained in a pod or boll which is filled with a floss not unlike that of the common milk-weed. In due course the boll bursts, exposing the mass of fluffy fibre from which the plant derives its extraordinary value. The superiority of cotton over other vegetable fibres, such as hemp or flax, is in the natural twist, which makes it inherently adaptable to spinning. The single fibre consists of a hollow tube having transverse joints at irregular intervals, and this tube, when dry, has a tendency to flatten out and curl. The more of this natural elasticity is found in the fibre the better it is for spinning purposes, and an immature fibre is for this reason unsatisfactory. Cotton is exceedingly susceptible to moisture, and a succession of violent atmospheric changes will cause such a rapid contraction and expansion in its fibre as to destroy its elasticity. From the point of view of the manufacturer there is very little difference between immature cotton and that which has suffered loss of vitality. [Sidenote: _Seeds and Stems_] Besides yielding a natural wool from which a tremendous number of products are derived, the seed of the plant gives forth a highly useful vegetable oil, and the stems and leaves are used for fodder. 2. HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION [Sidenote: _Ancient History_] The origin of the cultivation and commercial use of cotton is shrouded in the dim veils of antiquity. The records of India show that the plant was grown, and its fibre utilized, from the earliest times. The Phoenicians and the Hebrews are known to have made cotton clothing, and later the art was transmitted by them to the Greeks and Romans. The vague annals of China indicate a familiarity with this plant and its value extending back to the remote past, and the same is true of Japan. Cortez found a flourishing textile industry among the Aztecs in 1519, and in Peru, Pizarro found cotton garments said to antedate the civilization of the Incas. Again early Portuguese chroniclers relate the discovery of native cotton in Brazil. [Sidenote: _Europe_] [Sidenote: _America_] The Arabs and Saracens were largely responsible for the introduction of the textile industries to western Europe in the ninth century, but it was not until about the middle of the seventeenth century that any great progress was made. During this time the British began to attempt the cultivation of cotton in their colonies, and it was about 1650 when the first Virginia plantations were begun. Since that time the United States has forged ahead until at present it grows over three-fifths of the world’s crop. [Sidenote: _Egypt_]