Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Cotton Plant, by Frederick Wilkinson

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Title: The Story of the Cotton Plant

Author: Frederick Wilkinson

Release Date: August 3, 2009 [EBook #29586]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE
LIBRARY OF USEFUL STORIES

Image: A COTTON FIELD IN TEXAS

THE STORY OF THE
COTTON PLANT

BY

FREDERICK WILKINSON, F. G. S.

DIRECTOR OF THE TEXTILE AND ENGINEERING SCHOOL, BOLTON
AND CO-AUTHOR OF ELEMENTS OF COTTON SPINNING

_WITH THIRTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_

NEW YORK AND LONDON
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1912

COPYRIGHT, 1898, 1902,
BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE.

In collecting the facts which will be found in this Story of the Cotton
plant, the author has of necessity had to consult many books. He is
especially indebted to Baines' "History of the Cotton Manufacture,"
French's "Life and Times of Samuel Crompton," Lee's "Vegetable Lamb of
Tartary," Report of the U. S. A. Agricultural Department on "The Cotton
Plant," and The American Cotton Company's Booklet on the Cylindrical
Bale.

Mr. Thornley, spinning master at the Technical School, Bolton, has from
time to time offered very important suggestions during the progress of
this little work. The author is also deeply indebted to the late Mr.
Woods of the Technical School, Bolton, who was good enough to photograph
most of the pictures which illustrate this book, and without which it
would have been impossible to make the story clear.

For permission to reproduce Fig. 3, the thanks of the author are due to
Messrs. Sampson Low and Co., for Fig. 4, to Messrs. Longmans, Green and
Co. For Figs. 5, 8, 9, 13, and 36, to Messrs. Dobson and Barlow, Ltd.,
Bolton. For Fig. 7, viz., the Longitudinal and Transverse
Microphotographs of Cotton Fibre, the author is much indebted to Mr.
Christie of Mark Lane, London, who generously photographed them
especially for this wor