Vol. I. Xo. 11. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



169 



COTTON GROWING IN THE LEEWARD 

 ISLANDS. 



The following is the conclusion of the interesting 

 paper on cotton growing read by Mr. Watts, Govern- 

 ment and Anal3tical Chemist, befiire a meeting of tlie 

 Agricultural and Conniiercial Society of Antigua on 

 August 1 last, and a suuunary of the discussion 

 which followed : — 



RECENT EXPEIilMESTS ENCOURAOINO. 



Rome experiments liave already been made in Antigua, 

 ■Rt. Kitt'.s and Montserrat, and so far tliey are encouraging, 

 thougli far from conclusive. In most instances tlie yield nf 

 cotton (lint) jier acre was small, but the cotton bushes ha<l 

 been jilanted far too wide aiiart. What the best distance 

 will be, nuist be deteiinined by cxiieriment, but 1 would 

 suggest that 2ft. by 'Mt. will be sumewhat near it. 



Some samples of Leeward Islands cotton grown last 

 season have been valued in England at 9</. and 10;/. per Itj : 

 and these would have been valued at far higher prices but 

 for the presence of broken fibre due to imperfect gimiing. 

 The values of other samples are given in the A(jriculttiiat 

 Xetvf, .Tuly 9, 1902, page 103 :— 



.Sea Island IhJ. Hawkins Frolitic 4^./. to Xl^L 



King's Improved 4J(/. - ^x1. 



LTpland G(/. Native Montserrat 'il<l. ^ 6J. 



Peterkin ihl. 



Native Cotton (St. Lucia) 4^/. - 4^(^ 



Tlie valuers think, with regard to the sea island, that 

 it might easily fetch more money. 



By next mail I hope to be in receipt of the reiwrt on 

 the samples grown at tha Experimsnt Station, Scots' Hill, 

 Antigua, and ginned in the hand power gin recently exhibited 

 to the Agricultiu-al Society. 



Although the experimental yields of cotton were small, 

 <lue largely to too wide planting, I .see no reason why we 

 may not expect to reap 300!ti. of cotton (lint) to the acre, 

 And this will pay at prices within those (juoted for the 

 samples. 



It is not suiiposcd that jilanters will put in large areas 

 in cotton without making preliminary exiieriments to satisfy 

 themselves that there is some chance of success. We have 

 therefcjre ordered a supply of the best sea islaiul cotton seed, 

 which is available for distribution amongst those who are 

 disirous of making systematic trials. I would suggest that 

 those who are interested should make applications for this 

 ■S2ed and establish trial plots of ab )Ut one acre. The cotton 

 grown on these i]lots can be cleaned in the gin lielonging 

 to the Department of Agriculture and thus the wliule experi- 

 ment may be made at small cost. 



TIME FOR PLAXTIXi;. 



It is imijortant that we should a.scertaiu the pro]ier time 

 for sowing cotton .seed. It is desirable that the crop should 

 come to maturity so that the cotton may l>e rea])ed in the 

 •«lry months : these are usually .Jaiuiary, February, !March, thus 

 the .sowing should take place about August ; but ex|)erience is 

 needed to aflord reliable information. Exjierience may jioint 

 •out how cotton may be grown in rotation to other crfips and 

 perhaps to sugar. 



It has been a.sserted here that cotton is an exhausting 

 crop. This is quite erroneous if care betaken to dispose of 

 Xhe seed in a proper manner : this lieing done, cotton ranks 



with sugar a.s one of the least exhausting crops. The seed 

 contains comparatively large amounts of nitrogen, iiotash and 

 lihosiihates, and if these are removed and not returned to the 

 land there will be .some exhaustion. The cotton seed i.s 

 valuable for the oil it contain.s, and it is generally utilized in 

 the United States for oil production, the oil being expres.sed 

 and the residual cake u.sed either for cattle food or for a. 

 manure. 



Under our circumstances I think it will lie lietter to use 

 it as cattle food until the quantity produced l»econies too 

 great to be so employed ; in this way we shall save 

 the fooil value of the oil and obtain the residue in 

 the form of manure, if we have jiroperly constructed 

 cattle pens and stables. Later on when the industry has 

 grown to .sf>me magnitude we may di.scuss the desiraliility 

 of erecting oil mills for the removal of the oil which may be 

 exported while the cake is reserved for cattle food and for 

 nianure. In this way our lands will be eiu'iched instead of 

 im|ioverislied by this crop. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The points I want to urge are : 



That we have I'limate and soil conditions thoroughly 

 suitable for growing cotton. 



That we can grow the best and most valuable kind of 

 cotton (sea island) to advantage, this being the home of the 

 jilant. 



That it is neces.sary to exercise great care in maintaining 

 the quality of cotton grown by the careful selection of seed. 



That in starting the industry we should decide upon the 

 best method of packing, using a uniform system throughout 

 the Colony. The mei'its of the lies.sonette system should be 

 iiKpiired into. 



That .sea i.sland cotton is now in demand in Europe and 

 America so that the present is a favourable time for starting 

 the cultivation. 



That the Dejiartmcnt of Agriculture is ])rcpared to afford 

 active assistance to any [jcrsons endeavouring to start cotton 

 growing, or undertaking experiments in its cultivation. 



The extract from 'I'hc Times, m the AijricallnriiJ Xtiisi, 

 .luly 19, page 103, is significant and imporUmt. 



This affords us a very favourable oiiportunity for 

 starting investigations, and I think we should use every effort 

 to come into lino with this movement in England.' 



DI.SCUSSION. 



An animated discussion followed in which Hon. C. A. 

 Shand, Messrs. Cowley, Spooner, Harjier, W. 1!. Abliott and 

 others took part. In the course of the di.scussion frequent 

 reference was made to the cultivation of cotton in Antigua 

 between 1 .SCO and 1870. From this the general imjircssiou 

 was gathered that at that time the plants were grown much 

 wider apart than Mr. ^Vatts had suggested, that the cultiva- 

 tion was sinqile and inexjiensive, that little or no u.se was 

 made of the cotton seed, and that the industry had been 

 abandoned partly because of the great fall in jiri<-e coupled 

 with the relatively high price of sugar. The Hon. C. A. 

 Shand, who has had some experience in cotton sampling, 

 spoke in high terms of the (pialities of the sanqdes of cotton 

 exhibited, which were grown at the Experiment Station at 

 Scots' Hill. The Hon. C. A. Shand, Messrs. Siionner, Cowley 

 ami S. Smith were nominated as a Connnittee to co-o|ierafe 

 with Mr. Watts and the Officers of the Department of 

 Agriculture in endeavouring to ascertain whether it is 

 ]iossible to establish a remunerative cotton industry in 

 Antigua, and to assist in the experiments in cotton growing 

 to be made with the seetl snjiplicd for the purpo.se by the 

 Department. 



