Vol. I. No. 13. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



195 



COTTON GROWING IN ANTIGUA. 



V.VLI'ATION' Of SAMPLES IX EN(JLAM>. 



As ail oiitcomo of the exporiments made with 

 cotton in the Leeward Islands (see Ai/riculfunil A^ews, 

 ]){>. 1-58 and Ki!)) tour samples grown at the Eeononiic 

 E.xperinient Station, x\ntigua, were forwarded to 

 England for valuation. 



The varieties sent weie 'Sea Island, 'King's 

 Improved,' ' Peterkin,' and ' Ru-ssell's Big Ball. All 

 had been giown fnjni .seed ini])orted from America and 

 ginned in a Maearthy hand power gin, obtained from 

 Me.ssrs. Piatt Bros., of Oldham. 



The .Secretary of the Manchester Chand:)er of 

 Commerce, who was good enough to obtain e.xpert 

 opinion on the samples, reports as follows : — 



' I have submitted the saiiiiiles of Antigua cotton 

 referred to in your letter of .June 18, and its encliwure, to the 

 judgement of a cimi.etent e.xpert who, after careful examina- 

 tion of tliem report.s to me in tlie following term.s : — 



" The four samples of cotton grown in the i.sland of 

 Antigua are valued as follows : — 



Sea Lsland ... ... 8|(/. nominal 



King's Improved ... ... 4g-|(/. nominal. 



Peterkin ... ... 4i-|d. „ 



Rus.sell's Dig Ball ... ... 4|-1</. 



The sample of Sea Island i.s well thought of, but has not 

 been prepared to the best advantage. A roller gin would be 

 more suitable for such long staj.led cotton. In the mo.st 

 favouralilo circumstances this cotton might be worth about 

 1(/. per pound below the best Georgias grown from similar 

 seed in America, but would only rank as a .sul>stitute, and 

 there is very little demand for substitutes unless the Anierican 

 Sea Island crop proves a small one. The-best market would 

 l>e found in Savannah. 



The other three varieties are very ordinary cotton." 



I shall at all times take jdea.sure in as.sisting you to the 

 best of iny ability in your endeavours to e.xtend the growth 

 of cotton.' 



The prices quoted are slightly in advance of those 

 given on page 103 of the A</rirulfanil iVcit's for 

 samples of cotton from Montserrat. 



COTTON SEED AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS. 



The following extracts taken from Mr. W. Heiu'y'.s 

 ■work, Fefils iniif Fe.:diiig, and from The Cotton Plant by 

 Charles W. Dabney, Ph. I)., Assistant Secretary, L)e[iart- 

 ment of Agriculture, United States of America, atlbrd 

 useful and reliable information with regard to the value of 

 cotton seed and its products, cotton seed meal and cotton 

 seed hulls, both as a stock food and as a fertilizer. 



It is estimated in the United States that for each pound 

 of cotton lint, there are produced '1 lt>. of cotton seed, or in 

 the ratio of 1 to 2. This agrees with the results recorded in 

 the West Indies. On the as.sumiition that 900 It), of raw 

 cotton can be i>roduced per acre in these islands, there would 

 remain, after removing the lint, about 600 It), cotton seed. 

 According to Mr. Henry, the value of cotton seed as a stock 

 food and also as a fertilizer is as follows : — 



COTTON .SEED AS A STOCK FOOD. 



100 B). of cotton .seed meal contain in digestible nutri- 

 ments : — 



Protein 37-2 11).] Protein 223-2 It).] 



Carbohy<lrateslC-9 „ epial to Carbohydrates 101 --1 „ - l**" 

 Jither extract 122 „ J Ether extract 73-2 „ J ^*^''^' 



While 100 It), cotton seed hulls contain in digestible 

 nutriments : — 



Protein 03 lt).l Protein l-81h.l 



Carbohydrates 33-1 „ ecpial to Carbohydrates 198-0 „ - '*'' 

 Ether extract 17 „ j Ether extract 10-2 „ j '*"'^' 



COTTON SKKl) AS A FKIITILIZER. 



Cotton seed meal contjiins per 1,000 It) :^ 



Nitrogen 67-9 lb. j Nitrogen 13G lb."\ 



Pliosj>horic | apiiroximately Phosphoric I per 



acid 28-8 ,, j equal to acid .58 ,, | ton. 



Potash 8-7 „ J Potash 18 „ J 



Cotton seed hulls contain per 1,000 H) : — 



Nitrogen G-9 It).] Nitrogen 14 lt).'\ 



Phosphoric 'approximately Phosphoric | i>er 



acid 2-5 ,, j eipial to acid 5 ,, j ton. 



Pota.sh 10-2 „ J Potash 21 „ J 



It is also stated that 100 lb. of cotton seed yield : — 

 Cotton seed meal 37-.") lb., or about 225 lb. per acre, 

 od 12-5 „ „ „ 75 „ „ 

 hulls 48-9 „ „ „ 293 „ „ „ 

 Short lint PI ,, ,, ,, 7 ,, ,, ,, 



The ' short lint' is the small portions of lint left on seed 

 after ginning. 



MANURINCi COTTON. 



With regard to the kind of fertilizer liest suited for the 

 cotton plant, ojiinions vary in ditl'erent [.arts of the United 

 States where cotton is extensively grown. As cotton lint, 

 however, on analysis, is found to possess only a trace of 

 nitrogen and mineral matter, whilst the seed is especially rich 

 in these constituent.s, it may fairly be assumed that where 

 cotton seed is not restored to the land in the form of manure, 

 the ap}ilication of a fertilizer containing the.se ingredients is 

 necessary to maintain the fertility of the soil. So far, the 

 best results appear to have been ol.tained with chemical 

 manures applied per acre in the following jiroportions, taking 

 the croi) at 300 lb. of cleaned lint [ler acre : — Nitrogen, 

 20 It). ; iihosplioric acid, 50 tt>. ; potash, 15 lb. Cn the other 

 hand, when cotton seed, or portions of it, are returned to the 

 .soil, the most satisfactory yields jier acre are said to have 

 been obtained from applications of the following compost : — 



f Green cotton seed ... ... 100 bushels. 



- Stal)le manure ... ... 100 ,, 



[Acid phosphate ... ... 2,000 ft 



applied at the rate of 400 to 800 lb. per acre. 



LIMES IN GRENADA. 



The Grenada Fcdcnili.Kt reports that at the i-ecent 

 meeting of the managing Committee of the Agricul- 

 tural Societ}", the cpiestion of planting the Spout 

 land in limes took place. 



' It was urged that the lime industry was likely to prove 

 a valuable assistant to cacao and spices, and that an object 

 lesson was necessary to enable jieasant proi)rietors to have 

 some idea of the method of cultivation and a knowledge of 

 the value of the product. Lime fruit had been recently 

 selling locally for exi)ort, at very good prices which were 

 more remunerative than anything that cacao could bring, 

 and it was urged that the systematic cultivation of this plant, 

 would, therefore, be of very great benefit to the conununity. 

 A vote was agreed to for cultivating one acre of the Spout 

 lands in limes.' 



