Vol. III. No. 63. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



293 



COTTON INDUSTRY. 



The Cotton Industry in the West Indies 



The Jamaica Glen iter publishes a letter from 

 Sir Daniel Morris from which we take the following 

 e.xtraet relating to the cotton industry : — 



I was very much impressed with-tlie high opiinou that 

 has been formed of our cotton in Liveipool. I had a long 

 conversation witli brokers who have dealt with recent 

 shiiiraents, and they assured me that they could receive at 

 least 30,000 bales of Sea Island cotton without affecting 

 jirices. Spinners of long-sta|)le have taken a special interest 

 in West Indian cotton. They like it l)etter than ligyptian 

 and are prepared to give good [irices for all our best qualities, 

 such as are being shipped from Barbados and other islands. 



Everything I have seen and heard on this side is 

 distinctly favourable to the idea of establishing cotton in 

 the West Indies. 



k Sales of St. Vincent Cotton. 



Mr. W'. X. Sands, Agricultural Superintendent at 

 St. Vincent, has forwarded the following information, 

 , abstracted from recently received account sales, relating 



I to the first shipment of Sd. Vincent cotton. The cotton 

 was shipped to the British Cotton Growing Association: — ■ 

 The Sea Island realized l-5(/. per lb. and tie Cannouan 

 and Union Island varieties from 7hd. to 7j;'/. per H). Reports 

 of subsequent shipments show that the Sea Island has been 

 sold at prices ranging from 14</. to !•")(/., but the account sales 

 have not yet been sent out. 



These prices may be considered very satisfactory to all 



k concerned. 

 The first shipment consisted of 29 bales of Sea Island, 

 27 selling at 15(/. The two remaining contained a mixture 

 of cottons. 



The other 10 bales were the local varieties, making the 

 total of .39. 



Cotton Cultivation in Jamaica. 



The following extracts from a report b}- Mr. John 

 Barclay, Secretary of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, 

 on cotton cultivation are of interest in showing what is 

 being done in the way of e.xperiments in Jamaica, and 

 further contain various useful hints : — 



I visited two of the largest plots in the island, 

 that of Mr. Fursdon at Two ilile Wood and those of the 

 Hon. T. H. Sharp at Angels and Eltham, near Spanish Town. 

 I found Mr. Fursdon busy superintending the ginning of 

 Egyptian cotton forwarded to him from settlers in the Pedro 

 Plains. At the very outset there was a lesson to be learnt 

 here. The cotton had been picked at least three weeks 

 before it was fit ; it had been carelessly picked, and was 

 mixed with such foreign matter as bits of leaves and sticks 

 and even bits of paper ; it looked dirty as if some of it had 

 been taken uji from the ground. This involved a great deal 

 more trouble and labour in the ginning. Egyptian cotton is 

 of a slightly yellowish-brown colour, but the colour of this 

 cotton had been much deepened by its being packed in bags 

 stained with red earth. 



So far, Mr. Fursdon's is the only ginnery in the 

 island. The gin is the one presented by the British Cotton 

 Growing Association to the Government. The staple of 

 Egyptian cotton being .shorter than Sea Island, the gin has 



to be set closer to take the lint from the seed, so 

 tJiat it is very necessary that the two varieties should not be 

 mixed. It is fortunate that this gin is already working 

 smoothly. Mr. Fursdon has about. 10 acres of cotton, part 

 of it being Egyptian and part Sea Island. The Egyptian 

 variety grows into a larger bush than the Sea Island, but 

 I did not notice here that there was any distinction in their 

 relative vigciur ; both crops were in good condition. The Sea 

 Island had been planted a month later and was just beginning 

 to blos.som. The plants were not over 3 feet high, while 

 the Egyptian stood 4 to .5 feet high with the bolls already 

 opening, showing the seed-cotton. Indeed a little of it was 

 ready to be picked. 



Jlr. Sharp has 10 acres of Sea Island cotton planted 

 at Angels. This crop, planted in April, was nearly all 

 coming into blossom, some of the most forward plants 

 already having ripe bolls on them. The rainfall in this 

 district is very light, but the Sea Island plants stood 

 about 3 feet high and would evidently produce a very high 

 rate of cotton per acre. Further down towards Spanish 

 Town, at P^ltham estate, Mr. Sharp has 10 acres more of 

 cotton through an orange grove. Half of this cultivation is 

 Egyptian and half Sea Island. I saw no insects liut ants 

 and stainers on the cotton. The Sea Island plants stood 

 from 3 feet to over 5 feet in height. Some of the pods of 

 Egyptian cotton are already ripening, and the first general 

 picking will be made next week. While there will be a great 

 crop here, I do not think it will be as much as if the plants 

 had been further apart. 



Jfr. Sharp has also 10 acres of cotton planted at Inverness 

 and about the same acreage at Colbecks. While I am glad 

 to say that neither of these cultivations has been troubled by 

 caterpillars, as .some cultivations have on the north side, I am 

 sorry to saj' that the staiuer is in very great numbers at 

 Hartlands and at Eltham and may depreciate the value of 

 the cotton by discolouring it. I did not notice any of 

 these insects on the Sea Lsland cotton at Angels. Experi- 

 ments are being tried with ^'arious mixtures to attract these 

 insects from the cotton and kill them, as hand-picking 

 would prove too expensive. 



RUBBER IN JAMAICA. 



The following brief note on the cultivation of 

 rubber trees in Jamaica, which appeared in the Bullet in 

 of the Bepartment of A<jvicidture, is of interest: — 



It has been universally understood that with the 

 exception of the Ceara rubber, other rubber plants only 

 succeed in districts that are moist ; and the planting of 

 rubber trees has not been i)ushed in Jamaica for fear of 

 interfering with the cacao and banana industries. Large 

 numbers of plants, however, especially of Castilloa, have 

 been distributed from the Gardens with a recommendation to 

 plant them along fences to serve as fence posts, if they turned 

 out to be of no value for the rubber. 



Experiments have been made in growing Castilloa, the 

 most promising for Jamaica, both at Castleton and Hope 

 Gardens. Contrary to expectation, it has been found that 

 Castilloa succeeds better in the oijen than under shade, and 

 this has been confirmed by experiments made by Mr. J. 

 Shore at Cinnamon Hill. 



In the extracts now appearing in the Bulletin on 

 Castilloa in Central America, by Professor Cook, it is shown 

 that a dry season seems to be necessary for the full supply of 

 rubber. 



It will be well therefore to experiment with Castilloa in 

 districts where bananas arid cacao do not thrive. 



