274 



THE AGFJCULTURAL NEWS. 



Decembek -20, 1902. 



The "lays of 'the more lucrative pruiluctiiin oi 

 SHgar ' would a))pertr to have passed awa}-, and it is 

 not improbable but that cotton may once more take its 

 place amongst the staple products of the West Indies. 



Little information is to hand as to the yield per 

 acie obtained in the West Indies in the days when 

 cotton was a stajjle ])i'odnct. Long in his Hisfory af 

 Jiiiiialcd, published in ITT-i, gives the following return 

 for an estate in that Colony. The plants were sown o 

 feet apart. Two crops were ol)t:iincd within a year: 

 the first, eight months aftei' scjwing, the second, four 

 months later. From 20 acres, Long sets the yield oi 

 cotton at (),000 lb. for the fiist crop and .'1000 tt). for 

 the second : a total of 9,000 lb. or -ioO lb. per acre. He 

 adds that 'in the Parish nf Vere, 240 tf). per acre is 

 reckoned a tolerably good yielding.' 



In the United States between 2.50 It), and 300 Iti. 

 of cotton per acre has been the average crop for the last 

 fifteen years. Descriptions have already been given in 

 the Agrlridiii ral Xfws of the results obtained duiing 

 the last two years on experiment plots in the Leeward 

 Islands (see ])ages 15'^, KiO, etc.) 



In some small scale rxjieriments recently made at 

 MontseiTat no less than 2,.S0O lii. of seed cotton, eipial 

 to o\er 000 lb. of lint })er acre, weie obtained from a 

 plot of Sea Island cotton. A plot of one quarter 

 acre of mixed varieties yielded •},429 lb. of seed cotton, 

 or at the rate of about 1,100 lb. of lint per acre. 

 Returns of this order are stat^'d to be commonly 

 obtained in Cuba. 



These figures must for the time be accepted with 

 caiition and need to be put to the test of exjieriments 

 on a coiinnercial scale. Even hii\ve\'er at tin/ much 

 lower average of 300 Hi. ol' lint per avw, obtained in the 

 United States, and also in Carriacou there is reason 

 to believe that cotton will prove a remunerative crop 

 in t he West Indies. 



'I'll illusti-atc tlie ariual cHorts being made in 

 reintroduce cotton intn these islands we may mention 

 thiit in St. Kitt's there are now some 230 acres under 

 cotton. .Montsei-rat fellows with KiO. In St. Lucia, 4 

 acres an' deMited to cotton ;it, the Experiment Station, 

 ;ind the industry is extending throughout the island. 

 To encourage the cultivation the AtjricuUural Society 

 ai'e offering prizes at their f irtlieeming Shew. In 

 Antigua also cotton is new eulti\ate(| tean appi'eei.dile 

 extent. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



West India Sugar in Canada. 



The following interesting notes on the importa- 

 tions of West India sugars into Canada are taken 

 from the Mk r'ltiiin' Mcirlniut of November 20: — 



'The iiuiiortatioiis of West India sugars into Halifax have 

 lieon iiiucli lar';er lliis j'ear than ever before,' t^aid 

 Mr. (J. M,(i. Mitchell of G. P. Mitchell it Sons. 'I have 

 not the complete figures for the year at hand, Imt there was 

 lundeil here during the months of A|inl, !May and .lune, 

 .'^,000 tons of West India cane sugar, and the total inqinrta- 

 tioiis for the year will not he far short of 20,000 tons. The 

 year liefore only -"ijOOO tons were imiiorted. Thel)ulk of this 

 goes to the refineries, hut a small iicrcentage is sold to tlie 

 grocery trade in the state in which it is receive<l. The 

 Montreal refineries take about two-thirds. The increase has 

 Iiad the etfect of decreasing the importations of beet root. 

 Formerly the refineries consumed a very large jir()|iortion of 

 foreign beet root, but this year the percentages liave been 

 reversed. In ]S!)S the importaticni of lieet ro(jt amounted 

 to 19,000 tons; in 1S99 to 1S,000 tons, and in 1901 to 

 2-"), 000 tons. Ft)V 1902 the consumiition of lieet loot by 

 oiu' refineries will be nuicli lighter. 



' For the last five or six years we have been working up 

 the trade in West India sugars. The preferential ilnty has 

 h'jll>ad soma, luit the difficulty has been to persuade the West 

 Inlia exjiort^r that he could do as well liy shipiiing to 

 Halifax as to New York. As a matter of fact, he can do 

 l)etter. We guarantee to pay the same price tliat rules in 

 New York on the date that tlie shi|> arrives liere. This gives 

 the West India merchant who shii)s to Halifax tlic advan- 

 tage of tlie lighter ex|)eiises and charges which obtain at this 

 port. The steamer liere goes direct to the refinery and there 

 are no costs for lighterage. It is likely the importation of 

 West India sugars will continue to increase. The abolition 

 of the bounties in foreign beet root countries next Sejitcinlier 

 will necessitate the addition of a like amount ujion the cost 

 to the consumers. The strong position of raw sugar at the 

 iiiv-ciit time is liuc to tins exiiectation.' 



A Prussian Beet Sugar Factory. 



The following account of the earnings of a beet 

 sugar factory is taken from a letter in the A"(' /•■."(((/*<( 

 ri^i liter for November S, 1!)02 :— 



Kecently the large sugar factory of t'ulmsee, in Western 

 I'russia, has \puhlisjied its annual reiiort. The factiny had 

 for the campaign of lttOl-02 planted an area of (5,092 

 hectares, as against .J,10() hectares in 1900-01. Tlie large 

 increase is in some measure due to the hopelessly damaged 

 winter cereals, .so that many fields of wheat, rye, etc., had to 

 be turned over and sown with beets. The crop taken from 

 the aViove area amounted to 179,711 long tons of lieet, as 

 against 117,0S1 tons for tlie jireceding I'iunpaign. Tlie 

 season lasted from September 21 to December 11, and there 

 lias been an average working of beets in 24 hours of 2,120 

 tons, as .against 2,.') IS tons last yciir. Tlic contents of sugar 



