November 04, 2017

Hairy-seeded Cotton


     I separated some cotton from seeds for someone at our guild.  This cotton was grown here in Virginia.  The cotton variety is Nankeen, an old variety whose fibre was used to make breeches in the late 1700s.  (I owe knowledge of that fact to Colonial Williamsburg.)  The colour is undyed, naturally yellow-brown.  The seeds, the pile on the left in the photo, are hairy and it took some effort to pull the fibre off the seeds.  I've never separated smooth-seeded cotton, but I hear it is easier.