70 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 8, 1919. 



COTTON. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



The report, of Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ended February 8, 1919, is as follows: — 



ifLANDS. There continued a gocd dencand throughout the 

 week for the odd bags classing Fine to Fully Fine, resulting 

 in large sales, the buying being on account of the Northern 

 Mills. The ExchaDj:e reported sales for the week of 2,600 

 bales, but they exceeded .3,000 bales, taking the larger part 

 of the stock of this quality. 



At prices now current Fine to Fully Fine Islands are 

 attracting general attention, the quality being fully equal to 

 and better thaii Georgias and Floridas in grade, staple, and 

 tinenesf). 



We quote, vizi- 

 Fine to Fully Fine, 53ic. to 54c., f.o.b. and freight. 

 Fine to Fully Fine, slightly off in preparation, 52c. to 

 52^c., f.o.b. and freight. 



GEOKGIAS AND FLORIDAS. The Savannah market 

 remains dull, with Factors holding off the market the old 

 crop cotton, of which their stock principally consists- 



The demand continues in the interior markets, where the 

 holders are willing sellers at quotations. 



The sales of 1,185 bales reported by the Savannah 

 Cotton Exchange represent cotton passing through from the 

 interior markets. 



Yon will note that there has been a good demand oo 

 account of the Northern Mills at some concession in price. 



We quote viz. : — 



Extra Choice, 53c., fob. and freight. 



Average Extra Choice, 52c. to 52Jc., f.o.b. and freight. 



The exports from Savannah for the week have been: 

 to Northern Mills, 1,336 bales, "and from Jacksonville to 

 Northern Mills 146 bales 



COTTON PLANTING. TWO PLANTS VER- 

 SUS ONE PLANT PER HOLE. 



Reference to Pamphlet No. 31, Tht A. B.C. of Cotton 

 Hunting iesoed by the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies, will show that the advice given to coiton 

 planters is to plant four seed.s in.a hole, and then to thin the 

 seedlings out so as to leave only one plant in situ. Thi.'< 

 advice has been condistently advocated until quite recently in 

 most, if not all, of the cotton growing islands In the last 

 few yenrs, however doubts have ari.sen, notably in St. Vincent 

 and .Moutserrat, as to the advisibility of adhering strictly to 

 this prtctice. The results of an experiment designed to test the 

 comparative yield of one plant f)er hole as against two plants 

 per holt! were recorded in the Report on the Agricultural 

 Department, St. Vincent, 11)17 18, which showed that two 

 plants per hole gave 27 per cent, greater yield that one plant 

 per hole. 



A similar experiment undertaken in Montserrat gave a 

 like result; and, on being re|j<;.itcd during the last cotton 

 seatton. I V»l 8 19, confirmed thi; previous result, the average 

 gain accruing from two plants piT'toIe aa compared with one 

 plant per hole being about li.'; (jei cent. Mr. Ilobsou, the 

 CuraUir, in r-ferring to this \\»i experiment, states that four- 



teen rows, each 174 feet lone and 4 feet apart, were planted 

 with cottonseed in holes at a distance of 2 feetapari; the 

 rows alternated, the odd uuuibers being thinned out to two 

 plants per hole, and the even r.umbers to one plant per hole. 

 In every esse the rojrs carrying two plants per hole gave a 

 larger yield than the others, with the average result stated 

 above. 



Tire following table shows how this result was attained: 



One plant per hole. 

 No. of row. Total yield per 

 row. 



oz. 



2 

 4 



6 



8 

 10 

 12 

 14 



19 13 



There are considerations, however, in connexion with 

 this subject that should be well w«>ighed, before too general a 

 conclusion is arrived at. In the first place, aa was pointed 

 out in the St. Vincent Report, the season in which the experi- 

 ment was undertaken was a very favourable one both aa 

 regards rainfall »»d as regards freedom from plant diseases. 

 It still remains an open question whether the doubling of the 

 number of the plants on a given area would be of advantage 

 under less favourable conditions. In Montserrat also the 

 conditions during the season in which the experiments were 

 made seem to have been, on the whole, favourable to the 

 cotton crop. Therefore a cer'ain amount of caution is 

 requisite, and further continued experiments are needed 

 before advocating a general desertion of the practice 

 hitherto advocated. , 



A second con.siderati"m iiiuat al.so be borne in mind. The 

 practice of thinning out the cotton plants to one necessitates 

 a certain amount of care and attention to the field on the part 

 of the cotton grower. The experiment.^ noticed above were 

 carefully carried out, th- plants were really thinned out to 

 two, not leaving each hole to the chance of having three o» 

 four or half a dozen plants remaining in it. There is a fear 

 that if the idea is widely adopted that more than one 

 cotton plant may he left in a hole, a slipshod practice might 

 obtain, whereby no thinning out would be done, the result of 

 which, it need hardly be said, would be di^^astrous to the yield 

 obtained. Further investigations will no doubt be made, 

 and cotton growers will be glad to be placed in early possession 

 of the results of recent experiments, but the need of 

 continued care must always be craphaisized. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS, 



Mr. W. Now-ll, IXI.C, Mycologist, on the staff of 

 tho Impori.al Dcpartnient of Agriculture, returned to 

 Barh.'idos from '^ronada on March 3 



Mr. 11. A. Ballou, M.Sc, Entomologist on the staff 

 ofthelmperi.il Department of Agriculture, left Barbados 

 on March 5 for the Leeward Islands, in connoxion with 

 entomological investigations. 



