Vol. III. No. 68. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



375 



COTTON NOTES. 



The measure of success to be attained this year with 

 cotton will depend, in the first place, on the quality of the 

 seed sown and, in the next place, on the attention given to the 

 cultivation and checkini; the attacks of the cotton worm. 



Even where the seed is not of the best quality, a good 

 deal might be done by having the cotton i)icked very care- 

 fully and by keeping the different qualities entirely distinct. 

 The ' Rivers ' seed supplied by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture may be depended upon, if the cultivation and 

 picking are good, to produce >Sea Island cotton of very high 

 quality. 



Mr. Oliver is of opinion, from the samples of various 

 cottons submitted to him during his recent visit, that the 

 cotton obtained from the 'Rivers' .seed, under favourable 

 circumstances, may be worth from 3(^. to 9rf. per lb. more 

 than the bulk of the cotton raised from local seed. 



This shows the desirability of planting nothing but the 

 best seed. A crop of cotton of high quality may net £8 to 

 £12 per acre; while a croji of low quality, with exactly the 

 same expense in cultivation, may net only £3 to £o per 

 acre. It should, however, Ite borne in mind that no crop can 

 be satisfactory unless the land is well preiiared beforehand, 

 the seed is good, the cotton worm is kept in check, and the 

 picking is thoroughly well done. 



So far, the attacks of the cotton worm are being very 

 successfully dealt with. In some instances the worm has 

 been allowed to injure the field.s, because Paris green and 

 lime have not been kept in stock, and a sufhcient quantity 

 has not been available at a moment's notice. In a few 

 instances, the amount of Paris green and lime applied has 

 been more than was actually necessarj'. This has been 

 .specially noticeable in fields with scattered plants, or those 

 , where the plants have l>een of unequal size. 



Very soon the most important matter connectetl witli 

 cotton growing will be the picking. Whether this is to be 

 paid for by task or by the day will depend on local conditions. 

 The best plan is to pay a certain price for the actual amount 

 of clean cotton brought in each day. If the cotton is not 

 clean enough, or if unripe cotton is mixed with good cotton, 

 the picker might be required to go over it and thoroughly 

 dean it before being paid. 



In many cases bad picking is due to the fact that 

 sufficient care has not been taken in instructing and advising 

 the pickers beforehand : suitable bags must be provided, and 

 it should be insisted that pickers have both hands free ; the 

 pods should be firmly grasped with the left hand and the 

 cotton extracted with one steady pull by the right hand. 



In weighing the cotton brought in at the end of each 

 day, credit might be given for extra-clean picking. A small 

 reward given in this way might be productive of results as 

 good as, if not better than, keeping back the pickers to 

 re])ick their cotton the next day. Both [ilans are being tried, 

 and one or other may eventually be adopted generally. 



If the proprietor or manager were to give his personal 

 attention to this question of picking cotton clean and start 

 the work on right lines, it would mean several pounds in his 

 pocket at the end of the season, to say nothing of the good 

 name his cotton would eventually attain. 



It is supposed by some that it is the work of the gins 

 to take out bits of leaves and pods and turn out the lint 

 white and clean. This is an entirely erroneous opinion. 

 The gins, by breaking up the bits of leaves and pods into fine 

 pieces, will increase, rather than diminish, the evil. It is the 

 grower's duty to look after the character of the seed-cotton 

 sent to the gin. He will have no one but himself to thank 

 if his cotton contains bits of leaves and pods or is mixed 

 with unri[)e and weak stuff'. The gins cannot help him in 

 details like these. 



AGRICULTURE IN ST. CROIX. 



The St. Croix Avifi has the following note on 

 agricultural prospects in that island : — 



In regard to St. Croix, a better and more rational 

 .system of agriculture is needed. There is wanted a fresh 

 increase of experienced Danish agriculturists to replace the 

 hitherto existing immigration of frequently not very well 

 trained Irishmen and Americans. The sugar cultivation 

 under the poor prices of late years has been worked with 

 but small profits, and most recently even with a loss. By 

 rational methods, l.ioth in the cultivation and manufacture, 

 it may very well lie possible, now that the Brussels 

 Convention has created a sounder market, to make the 

 continuation of the industry again profitable. It will, 

 however, always be unfortunate for agriculture to place all 

 on this one card, and it is exceedingly desirable that 

 knowledge of other cultures should be diffused, especially 

 those which can be carried on on a large scale, as for 

 example, corn and tobacco, but also others which are 

 adapted to smaller cultivators, as for example, cacao and fruit 

 culture, the cultivation of vegetables for the local market 

 and for export. 



The plantation company, 'Dansk Vestindien,' has entered 

 on these tasks, and considerable capital has moreover been 

 invested by individuals, especially in the sugar industry, so 

 that we may hope that agricultin-e has brighter times before 

 it. 



There will be room for young, energetic, Danish agri- 

 culturists and gardeners, who have some capital, and the 

 plantation company has already through its engagements 

 appointed several 5'oung agriculturists. 



Plant Study. The habits of even the commonest 

 plants, especially in their relations to the other organisms 

 about them, are very imperfectly known ; and there is not 

 a section of any country in which there is not inviting 

 opportunity of this kind. Especially attractive at the 

 present time are the problems of oecological plant geography, 

 — the study of the reasons why each plant stands where it is, 

 and is of the form, size, and texture it is. Very attractive, 

 too, are the problems in modes of locomotion of our common 

 plants, and in the mechanisms of cross-pollination of many of 

 them. The construction of a local flora in which each plant 

 is not only listed, but located oecologically is everywhere 

 possible, and would be both scientifically and subjectively 

 profitable. (Ganong in The Tearhing Botanist.) 



