The lands are cleared for planting cotton in the usual manner,—by cutting down the trees and burning them; and the holes for the seeds are dug in quadrangular form at the distance of six feet from each other. Three seeds are usually put into each hole; in the British colonies, it is found necessary to make use of eight or ten seeds. The time for planting is in January, after the _primeiras aguas_ or first waters; or at any rate as soon in the year as any rain has fallen. Maize is usually planted among the cotton shrubs. Three crops and sometimes four are obtained from the same plants; but the second crop is that which generally produces the finest wool. The shrub has a pleasing appearance whilst it is in full leaf, and is covered with its most beautiful yellow blossoms; but when the pods begin to open and the leaves to wither, its thin and straggling branches are left uncovered, and the plant much resembles a large black currant bush, that has been left unpruned for a length of time. The cotton is gathered in nine or ten months. The machine for detaching it from the seed is simple, and might be rendered still more so. Two small rollers are placed horizontally in a frame, and nearly touching each other. At each end of these rollers there are grooves through which a cord runs, which is connected at the distance of a few yards with a large wheel, to which handles are fixed, and this is turned by two persons. The rollers are so formed as to turn in opposite directions, so that as the cotton is thrust against them with the hand, it is carried to the other side, but the seeds remain, for the opening between the rollers is not sufficiently broad to allow them to pass[168]. The machine which is used in the British colonies seems to be of the same construction in the main, but it is still more simple, for the rollers are made to turn by means of the feet of the person who holds the cotton to them[169]. After it has undergone the above process, some particles of seeds which have been accidentally broken still remain, and of other substances which must be removed. For this purpose a heap of cotton is made, and is beaten with large sticks; this is a most injurious operation, by which the fibre is broken; but as the value of the commodity to the manufacturer chiefly depends upon the length of the fibre, no trouble ought to be grudged to avoid this practice. The seeds adhere “firmly to each other in the pod.” Mr. Edwards speaks of this species in the British colonies, and gives to it the name of kidney cotton, saying that he believes it to be “the true cotton of Brazil[170].” The yellow or nankeen cotton is likewise to be found at Pernambuco; but it does not form an article of cultivation, being regarded rather as a curiosity. I have seen some species of wild cotton, of which however as I have neither note nor specimen, I cannot pretend to give a description.