Vol. III. No. 47. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



37 



COTTON. 



Cotton at Antigua. 



A special meeting of the Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society and persons interested in cotton 

 growing was held at Government House on Wednesday, 

 January G, on the invitation of his Excellency Sir 

 Gerald Strickland, K.C.M.G. 



His E.xcellency in introducing Sir Daniel Morris, 

 K.C.MG.., referred to the visit by the latter to the 

 cotton-growing districts of the United States. The 

 principal object of the meeting was to hear some of 

 the intbrmation gathered by Sir Daniel on that visit. 



Sir Daniel Morris, in addressing the meeting, 

 expressed great pleasure in being atibrded an oppor- 

 tunity of again meeting the planters of Antigua. He 

 briefly reviewed the objects of his visit to the United 

 States and discussed the question of the demand for 

 Sea Island cotton and its market. 'Merchants and 

 brokers have,' he stated, ' no fear of the market being 

 overstocked and prices depreciating, provided that 

 cotton of first class qualit}- is produced.' 



After Sir Daniel had dealt with the soil and 

 methods of cultivation, picking, etcl, observed in the 

 United States, his Excellency asked Mr. Watts to 

 explain the terms and arrangements to be made in 

 connexion with the proposed cotton loans. 



Mr. Watts stated that of tlie £5,000 available for loans 

 in the Leeward Islands, £1,100 would be allotted for use in 

 Antigua. Regulations will be formulated and i)ublished in 

 a definite inaiuier. As the loans have to be repaid, and as his 

 Excellency had hinted at personal responsibility, strict 

 business caution would have to be exercised in lending this 

 money. A charge of 2 per cent, would be made to cover 

 working expenses, and in addition, interest at the rate of 5 

 per cent, iier annum : thus a person borrowing £100 for six 

 months would have to pay £i 10s. 0(^ 



By way of security, a lien on the crop must be given 

 which lien must take jiriority : besides this the borrower 

 must obtain other security, jireferably the guarantee of one 

 or two substantial persons. There were difficulties in the way 

 of taking land as security, and as far as possible this would be 

 avoided. The money would be advanced in instalments 

 (probably at the rate of 10s. per acre) up to an amount not 

 exceeding £2 per acre. To obtain these loans applications 

 should be addressed to himself (Mr. '\^'atts) in the case of 

 persons resident in Antigua. In the other Presidencies, 

 applications should be made to the Administrator or Commis- 

 sioner. It was advisable that those desirous of obtaining loars 

 should apply in good time, stating the acreage it was proj osed 

 to cultivate in cotton and the security ottered. Early applica- 

 tion was desirable because the amount available was not 

 unlimited, and it might be necessary to make some selection 

 regarding the allotment of the money. 



Generally speaking cotton should be jdanted between 

 June and September, hence it was not likely that it would be 

 necessary to advance any money before May or June. An 

 excei)tion might perhaps be made, as suggested by his 

 Excellency, in connexion with clearing lands covered with 

 scrub at Piccadilly : in that case some small advance might be 

 made towards clearing. There must also be a minimum limit 

 as regards the amount lent : jiossibly no loan would be con- 

 sidered on a smaller basis than 10 acres of cotton (i.e. £20). 



Cotton Cultivation at Barbados. 



The following observations, which appeared in the 

 Barbados Agricultural RejMrter of January 16, are 

 specially useful in calling attention to the need for 

 intelligent and careful treatment of the cotton fields at 

 the present time. We have recently seen a fine field 

 of cotton, ready to be picked, utterly neglected and the 

 fibre allowed to be blown about and destroyed by wind 

 and rain. No industry can prosper, if steady attention 

 is not devoted to it : — 



The cotton field is now in evidence everywhere, and 

 just now it may be seen at all stages. There are young 

 fields recently planted, very healthy and promising. There 

 are more advanced fields just throwing out flowers and bolls 

 — as many as eighty pods were counted on one plant at 

 Westmoreland just lately— and again there are fields now 

 yielding produce. Some planters have begun already to give 

 cotton a bad name. ' The worm and the disease destroy it. 

 It does not give the return prophesied. It costs too much 

 to grow it and reap it. The expense of ginning and shipping 

 it cuts too deeply into the profit.' 



AVorm and fungus are, no doubt, a drawback ; but 

 it has been seen that the injury by the former is miTch 

 exaggerated, and that the latter may be combated and 

 overcome. We cannot expect a good return from cotton or 

 anything else without careful cultivation. Some planters 

 have not kept their cotton fields as clean as they were 

 advised, and some have thought they could jdant cotton 

 following upon second crop canes, without mucli tillage or 

 any manure and yet expect a good return. There are fields 

 of cotton now about to be reaped that have received as 

 careful attention and as liberal treatment as first crop canes. 

 If the return from these fields prove unsatisfactory, then 

 there will be reason for disappointment; but it does not look 

 like it to-daj-. As to cost of picking, especially, we are 

 informed that in America they pay 4.5 or 50 cents per cwt. 

 of seed-cotton : that the reapers pick 100 D). a day and 

 could pick 200 lb., if they chose ; that in Montserrat they pay 

 one shilling per 100 lb. for picking. It is understood that it 

 is a business that must be learned, and at first it is very 

 tedious. It appears to us that some intelligent person 

 should be sent in charge of the pickers on the first occasion, 

 to illustrate to them what is required, and then the women 

 may reasonably be expected to pick the cotton carefully at 

 6(f. a day for 50 lb. 



Porto Rico Cotton. 



The London Times (Weekly Edition) of December 

 25, 1908, has the following note on the sale of Porto 

 Rico cotton in England : — ■ 



Mr. A. A. Paton, Vice-chairman of the British Cotton 

 Growing Association, states that he has sold through Messrs. 

 F. Zerega and Co. 13 bales of Porto Rico cotton at HIJ. per 

 11)., and 33 bales more are to be delivered in Liverpool this 

 week. The first lot was sold in small parcels, so that the 

 spinners of the country might test its rare qualities. 

 Altogether from 1,000 to 1,200 bales are to be shipped this 

 season, and there is confidence that the price realized by the 

 cotton just sold will stimulate cotton cultivation throughout 

 the West Indies. Messrs. F. Zerega and Co. presented the 

 above Association with all the seed from the cotton, and it is 

 to be distributed among the West Indian Islands. In the 

 view of Mr. Paton this is the finest cotton ever imported 

 into Liverpool, and it is noted that for the cultivation of this 

 fibre the climate and soil of the islands are peculiarly 

 adapted. 



