5 



Mr. Oliver said of course the ratoon cotton could be grown and 

 shipped but it would fetch a very much lower price, and in some 

 cases remain unsold. 



Mr. Oliver was asked what was the cost of picking, ginning and 

 baling .^ 



Picking, he said, was done in Barbados at | cent per lb., and 

 ginning and baling, three half-pence a lb. 



Mr. Oliver was also asked whether it was better to have a big 

 ginning district or that each man should have a gin of his own ? 



A large place, he replied, was worked more economically than 

 a small one. He did not think it would pay a man to have a gin 

 of his own unless he had 5 00 acres under cultivation. In his 

 opinion a Central Factory would pay best such as at Barbados. 



The Chairman said he thought they had all the information they 

 wanted from Mr. Oliver and there was nothing left but to thank 

 him for his advice. He also thought they ought to place on record 

 a vote of thanks to the British Cotton Growing Association for 

 taking the interest they did in this matter. He desired in thank- 

 ing Mr. Oliver to thank Mr. Stancliffe too. He took it that the 

 Meeting agreed to pass both votes of thanks. 



This was unanimously agreed to. 



Mr. Stancliffe, in reply, said he was very pleased to be there that 

 morning, and he desired to thank them all for the kindness shown 

 to both Mr. Oliver and himself. Everywhere they had been to, 

 they had received proverbial West Indian hospitality for which he 

 desired to return his sincere thanks. He wished them all pros- 

 perity in cotton growing and assured them that if they treated it 

 with the same kindness that they had treated them then it must be 

 a success. He hoped their visit would result in a new era for cotton 

 growing in the West Indies. 



COTTON FROM RATOON PLANTS. 



Mr. Oliver, the cotton expert, stated that cotton from ratoon 

 plants grown in various places all over the world, showed great 

 deterioration, the plants very soon reverting to the condition of 

 wild cotton. 



After seeing the plants growing in Jamaica, he allowed that 

 what was called here first ratoons did not correspond exactly to 

 proper ratoons, but appeared to be rather a continuation of the 

 original growth. 



In Barbados he stated the planters went on picking their crop 

 during 3 months, but here the crop matured on the first branches 

 at much the same time, and then a second series of branches grow 

 from below the original set : these second branches were known 

 here as first ratoons. 



Judging from the small sample that he had seen, he was inclined 

 to think that there was no deterioration in the lint for the so-called 

 first ratoons, but this was a ciuestion which could not be decisively 

 answered until he had seen a much larger quantity. 



