Vol. III. No. 52. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



117 



COTTON. 



Cotton Notes. 



The Secretary of the British Cotton Growing Association 

 writes : — 



A fair (juantity of cotton is now coming forward and 

 we are anticipating more during the ne.xt few weeks. The 

 best of it is realizing very satisfactory prices, viz., 16rf., but 

 for some reason or other a good deal of cotton is weak in 

 staple. This i.s a matter which will require very careful 

 attention, if West Indian cotton is to secure a name in the 

 market. 



Jlessrs. Wolsteiiholnic ct Holland, the well-known Cotton 

 Brokers of Liverpool, write : — 



It would be well that Sir Daniel ilorris should be 

 informed of the undesirability of planting Egyptian seed in 

 the West Indies at present. It does not maintain the 

 characteristics of the parent growth in the same degree that 

 Sea Island seed does, and we are afraid of the deterioration 

 of the latter through hybridization. Hybrids have sometimes 

 been successes in Egypt and elsewhere, but as Sea Island is 

 the finest description of cotton, it is not worth the risk, for a 

 deterioration of quality quickly means the loss of pence per 

 pound. 



Selection of Cotton Seed. 



Messrs. W. W. Gordon & Co. in their Sea Island 

 Cotton Report, dated Savannali, Ga., February 12, 1904, 

 publish the following warning with regard to the 

 selection of cotton seed : — 



Sea Island planters cannot be too careful in the seed 

 they plant. In some sections, where cotton of excellent 

 staple was produced a few years ago, neglect to replenish 

 with fresh seed has resulted in cotton of weak and irregular 

 staple, which has been almost unsaleable. Island seed will 

 deteriorate after four years' planting on the main, and seed 

 thus deteriorated cannot produce strong staple. 



In view of the above facts, and the further fact that 

 strong-staple Sea Island cotton is superior to any other kind 

 of cotton and will always be saleable, whereas weak-staple 

 Sea Islands are not so valuable and can be replaced by other 

 cottons, the necessity for using the best seed must be 

 apparent to every one. 



Cotton at St. Vincent. 



In reference to the notice that appeared in the 

 last issue of the Agricultural News, relative to the 

 purchase of cotton at the St. Vincent factory, we 

 extract the following from the Rules and Regulations 

 that have been drawn up for the factory :— 



For carefully picked and dried Sea Island cotton, free 

 from leaves, trash, etc., the charge for ginning and baling 

 (and shipping, if desired) will be at the rate of 3c. per D). 

 of lint. The seed will be returned to the grower provided he 

 supplies bags for the purpose. 



N.B. — The usual proportion of lint to seed-cotton is at the 

 rate of 23 to 26 ft. of lint to eveiy 100 ft. of seed- 

 cotton. Unless the seed-cotton is very thoroughly 

 dried and well picked, beforehand, there is usually 

 a loss in ginning ranging from 2 to 5 ft. per 1 00 ft. of 

 seed-cotton. 



Small lots of Sea Island cotton, if clean and well picked. 



will be purchased at the factory at the rate of 4c. per S). of 

 seed-cotton. In this case the seed will not be returned. 



N.B. — The above price of 4c. per ft. paid for Sea Island 

 cotton is equivalent to payment at the rate of about 

 11(1. per ft. for the lint in the Liverpool market. 



Disinfecting Cotton Seed. 



With the view of preventing, as far as possible, 

 the introduction of any cotton diseases with the 

 selected seed to be distributed by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, it is proposed to have this 

 seed carefully disinfected beforehand. 



This disinfection will be carried on with a solution 

 of corrosive sublimate in the proportion of 1 in 1000 : 

 that is 1 ft), of corrosive sublimate dissolved in 100 

 gallons of water. 



It has already been ascertained that this solution 

 will have no injurious effect upon the germination of 

 the seed, while it is confidently believed that it will 

 effectually dispose of any germs of disease that may be 

 attached to the seed. 



The following is a brief summary of the results of 

 experiments carried on at the Mycological Laboratory 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture in deter- 

 mining the effect of steeping selected cotton seed in 

 corrosive sublimate for one hour and then sowing 

 immediately: — 



Strength of 



corrosive 



sublimate 



solution. 



Water 

 1:1000 

 1: 750 

 1: .500 

 1: 2.50 



Time for 



which seeds 



were 



steeped. 



1 hour 



Percentage of seeds 



germinated after 



4 days. 



Total percentage 

 of seeds germi- 

 nated (after 10 

 days). 



73 



58 

 77 

 60 

 46 



84 

 89 

 88 

 83 

 84 



It will be seen that steeping cotton seeds in solutions of 

 corrosive sublimate up to a strength of 1 in 250 has no 

 effect on the total number of seeds germinated. The 1 : 250 

 solution, however, appears to have a slight retarding influence 

 on the speed of germination. 



A second series of experiments has been started, carried 

 out exactly as above. In this serie.s, in addition, one set of 

 seeds has been steeped in a 1 : 100 solution of corrosive 

 sublimate. 



A third series, to test the effect of steeping the seeds, 

 drying them, and then planting them at different times after 

 drying, has also been started. 



Remedies for Scalds and Bums. A useful 



solution recommended for immediate application in the case 

 of scalds and burns is sulphate of magnesia (common Epsom 

 salts). A saturated solution of bicarbonate of soda, also, 

 gives relief and is generally used as a first dressing. Directions 

 for use are as follows : Keep cloths, well wetted with either 

 of the solutions above mentioned, on the scald or burn, being 

 careful not to remove the cloths but supply fresh solution to 

 keep them always moist. 



