s having been attained.
Special interest attaches to experiments made in the United States to
endeavour to raise races of cotton resistant to the boll weevil.

8. Resistance to Weather.--Strong winds and heavy rains do much damage
to cotton by blowing or beating the lint out of the bolls. In some
instances a slight difference in the shape, mode of opening, &c., of the
boll prevents this, and accordingly seed is selected from bolls which
suffer least under the particular adverse conditions.

Attention has been paid in the West Indies to seed selection, by the
officers of the imperial Department of Agriculture, with the object of
retaining for West Indian Sea Island cotton its place as the most
valuable cotton on the British market.

In India, where conditions are much more diversified and it is more
difficult to induce the native cultivator to adopt new methods,
attention has also been directed during recent years to the improvement
of the existing races. Efforts have been made in the same direction in
Egypt, West Africa, &c.

_The World's Commercial Cotton Crop._

It is impossible to give an exact return of the total amount of cotton
produced in the world, owing to the fact that in China, India and other
eastern countries, in Mexico, Brazil, parts of the Russian empire,
tropical Africa, &c., considerable--in some eases very large--quantities
of cotton are made up locally into wearing apparel, &c., and escape all
statistical record. It is estimated that the amount thus used in India
exclusive of the consumption of mills is equivalent to about 400,000
bales. Neglecting, however, these quantities, which do not affect the
world's market, the annual supplies of cotton are approximately as
follows:--

+---------------------------+------------------+-----------+
| | Approximate | |
| Country | Production. |Percentage.|
| | Bales of 500 lb. | |
|---------------------------+------------------+-----------+
| United States of America | 11,000,000 | 68.75 |
| India | 3,000,000 | 18.75 |
| Egypt | 1,000,000 | 6.25 |
| All other countries | 1,000,000 | 6.25 |
| +------------------+-----------+
| Total | 16,000,000 | 100.00 |
+---------------------------+----