Vol. III. No. 60. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



245 



COTTON NOTES. 



Cotton from St. Lucia. 



Reports have recently been reeeivctl from the 

 British Cotton Growing Association upon two samples 

 of cotton forwarded from St. Lucia through the 

 Lnperial Commi.ssioner of Agriculture. 



The report on a sample of Uphind cotton was as 

 follows : — 



Clean, bright, well prepared. 'Fully good middling' in 

 grade. Staple equal to moderate extra American in length, 

 but rather lacking in strength and regiilarity. Good u.seful 

 cotton. Value, 7"20d. to 7'30(/. (Value middling American, 

 f>-72(?.) 



The second sample — one of Sea Island cotton — was 

 reported upon as follows: — • 



Clean, bright, well prepared. Lacking in length and 

 coarse. Value, lOt?. (small black seed). 



Shipment of West Indian Cotton. 



We desire to draw the attention of cotton growers 

 to the following important announcement made in the 

 West India Committee Circular. It is only by giving 

 careful consideration to such points as those referred 

 to that it can be hoped to attain ultimate success with 

 the cotton industry : — 



With reference to the shiiunent of Sea I.sland cotton 

 from the West Indies there are two points, we are informed 

 by the Imi>erial Commissioner, that require to receive special 

 attention. The first of these is the packing. This is 

 generally nuich too loose, and in consequence, the freight 

 rates for next season may have to be raised. It is well 

 known that Sea Island cotton will not bear the heavy 

 pressure that is enqiloyed for compressing short-stajile cotton, 

 but there is no doubt that the West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton will stand, without injury, much greater pressure than 

 is used at present, and it would be in the interest of the 

 growers that this should be borne in mind. The ne.xt point 

 is that to obtain the best prices for West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton it should be consigned, for the present at least, to 

 the Briti.sh Cotton Growing Association. The Association, 

 through its brokers, has established a special market for 

 West Indian cotton, and the high piices now ruling are 

 obtainable only where the shipments are placed in the hands 

 of firms who make a specialty of this class of cotton, and 

 who have the confidence of manufacturers who require long- 

 staple cotton of the best qualitj'. The .shiimient of small 

 independent lots of West Indian Sea Island cotton is there- 

 fore to be deprecated as calculated to injure the industry. 



Cotton Seed Oil in Austria. 



The following note appeared in the United States 

 Connidar Reports for March 1904: — 



The imports of cotton seed oil from the United States 

 decreased from 161 metric tons in 1901 to 120"-!: metric tons 

 in 1902, in consequence of the great increase in price of this 

 article. Cotton seed oil is used extensively here as a table 

 oil, but the prices at which it has been held during the past 

 two years have placed it beyond the reach of the poorer 

 classes and cheaper oils took its place to some extent. 



Attempts have been made to inii>ort the raw material 

 and produce cotton seed oil in Austria, but all such attempts 

 have failed because the cotton seed .suffers by the long sea 



voyage and the quality of oil produced therefrom is greatly 

 inferior to the American jiroduct. Experiments made with 

 Egyiitiau cotton seed, which does not seem to undergo 

 chemical changes during the comparatively short journey 

 from Egypt to Austria, have shown that it is not fit for the 

 manufacture of edible oil. 



Fiu'thermore, it is not at all probable, if the cotton seed 

 oil industry were undertaken here, that a profitable market 

 could be found in Austria-Hungary for the oil cake, which is 

 so important a by-product of the cotton seed oil industry, 

 inasmuch as its yield constitutes from 85 to 90 per cent, of 

 the raw material. Serious doubts must therefore be 

 expressed whether the proj)osed imposition of a prohibitive 

 import duty on cotton seed oil would in the long run 

 accomplish its purjwse. 



A BACTERIAL ROT OF ONIONS. 



In Barbados, during the past season, onions have been 

 attacked by a rot, which affects the inner scales of the bulb. 

 It was generally noticed after the onions had been gathered 

 and stored. 



Microscopical' examination of the diseased scales showed 

 that they were swarming with countless numbers of motile 

 bacteria. No traces of fungus hyphae were tfi be found. It 

 seemed probable that the bacteria were the immediate cause 

 of the rot, and that their development had been favoured by 

 moist conditions, either while the onions were growing or 

 when they were being gathered or dried. The weather 

 during last December, .Jaruiary and February was exception- 

 ally moist in Barliados. It was noticed that in most cases 

 the rot had apiiarently started at the collar. 



Inquiries were made of various persons who had practical 

 experience in onion growing. Their replies, in nearly every 

 case, attributed the disease to the wet weather while the 

 onions were growing and ripening. In one case it was 

 suggested that the rot followed attacks of onion thrips. 



An epidemic of a similar, if not the same, bacterial 

 disease caused great loss to onion growers in New York State 

 in 1898. It was made the subject of an investigation by 

 Mr. F. C. Stewart, the Botanist to the New York State 

 Ex[)eriment Station. 



It was found that, although the rot was quite certainly 

 due to bacteria, it could not easily be conveyed to healthy 

 plants by inoculation, exceiit in the presence of water. It was 

 shown that the unusually large amount of rot in 1898 was 

 due to the excessively wet weather which occurred in July 

 and August of that j'ear. 



The only means of prevention are to keep the onions as 

 dry as possible both in the field and in storage, and to keep 

 the cidtivation as clean as possible. 



KAOLIN IN ST. KITT'S. 



The late Dr. Haven, United States Commercial Agent at 

 St. Kitt's, reported last November on kaolin deposits in the 

 island. 



Samples of the kaolin taken from a bank deposit at 

 Ottley's estate, were sent to Professor John Clark, of 

 Glasgow, who reported : ' The results of my analysis indicate 

 that this is kaolin, or China clay, and I am of the opinion 

 that it is of sufficient purity for pottery purposes.' 



Dr. Haven stated that there seemed to be a large 

 deposit of this kaolin, which is covered by .3 or 4 feet of the 

 red clay such as is much used in the adjacent island of Nevis 

 for making water jugs, pitchers, etc., which being porous are 

 emi)loyed as coolers. 



