ford, Ontario, in 1861, and educated at its Collegiate Institute. Early in the eighties she began to write for Canadian magazines and to act as staff-correspondent for Toronto and Montreal newspapers. Her cleverness, fine perception of the weaknesses and eccentricities of human nature and her pervasive humor obtained a connection with the English press and the appointment to act for a literary syndicate in making a tour of the world. The result of the tour appeared in A Social Departure and subsequently in An American Girl in London. Her later works include The Simple Adventures of a Mem-Sahib; Vernon's Aunt; A Daughter of To-day; His Honor and a Lady; A Voyage of Consolation and a delightful book on the author's Indian garden. In 1890 she married the editor of a Calcutta newspaper, a scientist, and has since made India her home.
Cotopaxi (kō′tō̇-păks′ě), the highest volcano in the world, is a peak of the Andes, in Ecuador, 33 miles from Quito. The earliest volcanic outburst of which we know took place in 1532 and 1533. Many others have happened since. In 1744 its thunderings could be heard 500 miles away; in 1768 occurred the worst eruption, when ashes were carried 130 miles. The mountain is a perfect snow-crowned cone. Smoke can be seen issuing from the crater, sounds like explosions are sometimes heard, and at night a glow is noticed on the sky above the volcano. There is little lava, but during an outburst flame, smok and great quantities of ashes are thrown out. Cotopaxi was first climbed in 1872 by Wilhelm Reiss, who gives the height of the northwest peak as 19,498 feet and the southwest peak as 19,429 feet. The last eruptions were in 1877.
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| COTTON PLANT |
Cotton. As early as 1500 B. C. the people of India—and by 1200 B. C, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Egyptians—with primitive appliances, were making cotton cloth of a quality which has been surpassed only by the most skillful manufacturers during the last half century. Cotton either in its wild or cultivated state was used at the date of the discovery of America in practically every country within the 40th parallels of north and south latitude, except in what is now the United States.
Cotton is now cultivated in the United States on nearly all kinds of soils, south of latitude 37, artificial fertilizers being used to increase the yield, or hasten ripening on soils not naturally adapted to it.
THE COTTON QUEEN AND HER DRESSES
The plant belongs to the Malvaceae, or Mallow family, and is known by the generic name Gossipium. It is a perennial, but under cultivation usually becomes an annual or biennial. Culture in the United States is practically confined to two species, the silky, long-staple Sea Island cotton—G. barbadence—grown in the lowland coasts and coastal islands of Georgia and South Carolina; and Upland cotton—G. hirsutum—which is of two sorts, short cotton and Upland long-staple cotton. The flowers somewhat resemble single holly-hock blooms and continue to form until frost, opening their pale creamy petals one morning in full maturity for insect pollination, fading to pink by noon, dark pink the second day, and by night are shrivelled ready to be pushed off in a few days by the swelling fruit or boll. Bolls vary from almost spherical to long narrow pointed capsules and are divided into 3, 4 or 5 segments. When the bolls split and the fibres fluff into a twisted mass, the cotton is ready for picking.
ON THE PLANTATION
Cotton requires six or seven months of favorable growing weather between spring and fall frost to mature, but picking may extend far into the winter. It thrives in a very warm or even hot temperature, provided the atmosphere is moist, but it will mature a crop on less water than any other crop plant. Any sudden change in temperature, moisture or cultural methods is apt to cause an abortion of the young fruit and flowers.
Usually cotton is planted on ridges or “beds.” Fertilizers, when used, are generally drilled into the beds just before planting. The seed are usually drilled in—about one bushel per acre. When the plants are three or four inches high they are hoed or “chopped” out, single plants being left standing from 12 to 24 inches apart, distance depending upon luxuriance of growth and type of cotton.
Generally speaking the best concentrated fertilizer to be used is one containing soluble phosphoric acid, available potash and available nitrogen, although the nitrogen may be omitted if it has been previously supplied with green manure, legumes or barnyard manure.
COTTON PICKING AND GINNING
Mechanical pickers have been devised, but do not show the discrimination of the human being in avoiding immature cotton, nor adaptability to the irregularities of the average cotton field. After picking, the cotton is hauled in large boxed wagons to the gin (see Eli Whitney). It is sucked from the wagon through long tubes and distributed directly to the several gins in the gin house. A continuation of this sucking or blowing apparatus collects the ginned cotton and passes it to the compress
