Vol. III. No. 70. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



405 



COTTON INDUSTRY. 



Prospects of the Crop. 



Arrangements haxe been made for fortnightly 

 reports to be sent in by the agricultural officer in each 

 of the West India Island.s in which cotton is being 

 grown brietiy reviewing the condition of the crop. The 

 following is a short summary of the reports received by 

 last uiail : — 



In Barbados, Mr. Bovell reports that the four inspectors 

 who liave been visiting and assisting tlie peasant proprietors 

 have found that about 100 acres of cotton are being grown 

 by peasants. The cotton, all over the island, appears to be in 

 a healthy condition, and only in a very few instances have 

 caterpillars been seen. 



Mr. Jordan's report from ilontserrat shows that pests — 

 the cotton worm and the leaf-blister mite — liave attacked the 

 cotton, but that they have been kejit in check and have not 

 done serious damnge. The black boll is present. 



Similarly we learn from Mr. Shepherd that in St. Kitt's 

 the iilants are bearing well and ripening up rapidly ; they are, 

 on the whole, free from disease and insects. 



In St. Vincent, Mr. Alexander Fraser has been appointed 

 special emergency officer in connexion with the cotton 

 industry. He has been actively engaged, with experiments 

 that are being carried on at Rutland Vale for checking the 

 attacks of the leaf-blister mite. 



Jamaica. 

 Mr. John Barclay has submitted the following 

 report on the i^rospects of cotton growing in Jamaica 

 in continuation of the report published in the Agri- 

 ndtwml N'ews, Vol. Ill, p. 373 :— 



I have been making up statistics for Messrs. Oliver and 

 Stancliffe and I find there is not much to add to what 

 I reported before. Everybody has been waiting to see how 

 the spring crops turn out and to hear the reports as to 

 quality and price. Our cotton e.xperiments have not had 

 a fair chance as we took up the matter too late to catch the 

 best planting time. Still a good many estates have 

 done exceedingly well, but this lateness in planting and 

 waiting for results made few people plant in the fall, and 

 those who have planted, I am afraid, planted late ao-ain. 

 But if the reports as to the quality by the cotton experts are 

 satisfactory, it is very likely that there will be extensive 

 plantings in March and April. 



I have sent out enough .seed to plant 778 acres, but 

 many of the experiments have been abortive and many 

 people did not plant all the seed. I do not think there are 

 more than 50 acres altogether of Egyptian, and probably 

 400 to 500 in Sea Island at the present time, and some of 

 that forms the first ratoon crop of what was planted last 

 season. Mr. Oliver has reported against growing a ratoon 

 crop, as it does not produce a good quality of cotton. 



There will therefore be very little .lamaica cotton 

 exported before the month of April next. I hope, however, 

 that in the proper season, Jlarch and April, there will 

 be extensive plantings. 



I have already submitted some samiiles to ilr. Oliver. 

 He tested them yesterday [Xovemlier 27] when he declared 

 that three samples from Dr. Pringle's estates in St. Mary, 

 where cotton was grown as a catch-crop among youno- 

 bananas, were exceedingly fine, the value rumiing from 

 Is. _ 2d. to Is. id. per lb. The other samples submitted 

 varied, but some of them were also very good. 



Consumption and Supply of Cotton. 



The .Iinirnal of the Khcdlcail Ay ri cultural 

 b'icu'tt/ (Vol. VI, no. 4) contains the following note 

 by Mr. G. P. Foaden relative to the consumption and 

 supply of cotton • — 



During the last twenty years the consumption of cotton 

 m tjie Southern United States has increased 1,607,000 bales, 

 or o09 per cent.; the consumption in the North increased by 

 762,000 bales or 59 per cent. ; and in the whole country, 

 2,-369,000 bales, or nearly 148 per cent. 



During this period the United States increased its 

 cotton crop nearly 5J million bales, or about 96 per cent.; 

 India's crop increased 11 million bales (of 400 lb. each), or 

 73 per cent.; the Egyptian crop by 570,000 bales (of 500 ft. 

 each), or 75 per cent.; Russia, which formerly drew so largely 

 on America for raw cotton, is now suiiplying her own mills 

 with_ 200,000 to .300,000 bales grown in her Trans-Caspian 

 provinces. 



The consumiition of cotton in Europe has been increased 

 by 2i million bales, or about 200 per cent. Japan has 

 erected mills consuming 600,000 to 700,000 bales annually, 

 of which nearly 25 per cent, is American. The world's 

 consumption of cotton has increased nearly 7 million bales, 

 or about 94 per cent., and the United States, which is the 

 largest producer, has become also the largest consumer of 

 cotton. 



Picking Cotton. 



The following remarks on the picking of cotton, 

 made b}- Mr. E. Lomas Oliver, of the Deputation from 

 the British Cotton-growing Association, deserve careful 

 consideration by all growers of cotton :— 



This point is probably the One which will require 

 greater devotion to detail and more constant .supervision on 

 the part of planters than any other. 



Good cotton may easily be depreciated 2t/. or 3d. per ft. 

 by careless and slovenly picking. The man who follows 

 his pickers while at their work, until they are thoroughly 

 educated as to what is required, is the man who will earn the 

 highest reputation as a cotton grower. 



The pickers must pick the cotton dry, clean, and free 

 from leaf and trash : they must pick the cotton ripe, as no 

 spinner likes to spin unripe cotton. When the cotton is 

 perfectly ripe, the bolls will be fully open, and the cotton can 

 be extracted from the boll without the employment of any 

 force. If a planter will open a green pod and examine the 

 fibre while the seeds are white, he will find that he can rub 

 the fibres into a paste : in exactly the same manner the 

 cotton-spinning machinery rubs the soft, unripe cotton into 

 a spongy mass which is called 'nep.' It was this soft, 

 spongy fibre which was so prominent a feature of West 

 Indian cotton last year. Growers must learn to distinguish 

 between cotton which is soft and cotton which is fine ; the 

 former is a defect, the latter is very desirable. 



Sea Island Cotton Market. The following note 



is from the Sea Island Cotton Report of Jlessrs. H. W. 

 Frost * Co., dated, Charleston, S. C, December 3 .-—'The 

 market remains steady and unchanged with a continued 

 demand for all of the receipts of odd bags at 27c. and 

 28c. to 28ic. We quote : fine to fully fine, 27c. ; fully fine 

 to extra fine, 28c. to 28k. ; extra fine crop lots, 31c. to 32c. ; 

 extra extra-fine crop lots at 40c. to 55c.' In comparison 

 with this, it should be noted that Upland cotton was quoted 

 on December 13 in the Liverpool market at 4if/. per ft. 



