A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. III. No. 71. 



BARBADOS, DECEMBER 31, 1904. 



l.I'JRART 

 NEW \ 

 BOTAN... , 



GARDEN 



Price Id. 



The Cotton Market. 



HE Aiuerican crop is colossal, and the 

 decline in prices should prove to your 

 planters the fully of suggesting the plant- 

 ing of any other cotton than Sea Island.' Thus wrote 

 Mr. C. M. Wolstenholme, the well-known Liverpool 



cotton broker to the Imperial Commi.ssioner of 

 Agriculture by the last mail. 



The crop referred to is, of course, that of ordinary 

 or Upland cotton. The latest estimates place the 

 present crop in the United States at about 11,000,000 

 bales. This represents an increase of something like 

 2,000,000 bales over last years crop. It is only 

 natural that this very large visible supply, in addition 

 to all the cotton of a similar grade that is being 

 produced in other countries, should have caused a con- 

 siderable drop in prices. With the price of Upland 

 cotton as low as it is to-day (about 4(/. per It).), its 

 cultivation is scarcely likely to be profitable in these 

 colonies. 



The state of the market in Liverpool is indicated 

 by the following quotation from the Liverjwol Cotton 

 A.'<--:oci(du)n Weekly Circular of November 25 : 'The 

 cotton market has been quiet throughout the week, 

 prices have been easier, and quotations generally show 

 a decline.' Again, the following week: 'The cotton 

 market has been more active, but prices continue to 

 decline.' The prices quoted on December 2 for Ameri- 

 can cotton were : middling, i'lld : good middling, 

 4'87c/. They have since fallen to 4'1(/. per lb. If these 

 quotations be compai'ed with quotations for the same 

 time last year (6-84(7. and 6-92(7., respectively), it will 

 be seen that the decline in prices has been consid- 

 erable — nearly 3(/. per lb. 



Turning now to Sea Island cotton, we see at 

 a glance that the market shows a different state of 

 affairs. To quote again from the Liverpool Cotton 



