150 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 17. 1919, 



DOWN THE ISLANDS, 



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 April 26, 1919, is as follows:— 



ISLANDS. There was a very general demand for the 

 ofTerirg stock of the odd bags, classing Fine to Fully Fine, 

 resulting in the sale of the entire stock of this quality, on a 

 basis of our quotations, the buying being for the Northern 

 and .Southern Mills. The supply of bright cotton, classing 

 Fully Fine to Extra Fine, is limited to tlie planters' crop lots, 

 which are held at .5c. to 1 Oc. higher. 



The medium and lower grades have not been in demand. 



We quote, viz.: — 



Fine to Fully Fine, (g; 53c. to .53ic., f.o.b. and fr ight. 



(SEORGIAS AND FLORiDAS. The Savannah market has 

 been very quiet throughout the week, the sale reported by the 

 Kxchange being cotton bought in the interior markets. 



Although there has been more inquiry during the past 

 few days, the offerings are small, consequently the buying has 

 been limited. 



The better grades, Fancy, and Extra Choice, are scarce, 



firmly held. The lower grades are not in demand. 



We quote, viz.: — 



Fancy, .53c. to 5.'31c., f.o.b. and freight. 



Average Extra Choice, 52ic. 



Extra Fine, 49ic 



The exports from Savannah for the week were, to 

 Northern Mills 2.'50 bales, and from .Jacksonville to 

 Northern Mills 2.39 bales 



and 



COTTON GROWING IN VENEZUELA 



A note in the Al'-nfhly Bnlleiin of A]i;ilcuUural 

 InUlUyence and Plant D! seises, November 1918, draws 

 attention to the cjltivation of cotton in Venezuela. It is 

 stated that this cultivation has been regularly carried on 

 since the American civil war. During the last twenty years 

 the cotton manufacturing indu.stry has developed 

 considerably in Venezuela, and in spite of a heavy import 

 duly on rav cotton the manufacturers have frequently 

 bec-n obliged to import it from the United .S'ates. 



The high prices, however, that have prevailed f"r the 

 past two years for cotton and cotton goods have given a 

 great stimulus to cotton growing. The Oovernment has 

 aided in this movement by the distribution of seed. Accord- 

 ingly the area under cotton has been very largely increased, 

 and a bright fiHure is predicted for the industry. The 

 climate and soil of Venezuela are better suited to the grow- 

 ing of ITpland varieties of cotton than Sea Island or 

 Egyptian. < 'otton growers in Venezuela have tn contend at 

 times with locusts, which have proved very disastrous on 

 occasions, and were largely responsible for a serious drop In 

 production between the years 1912 and 191.5. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



ST. VINCENT. Mr. Sands writes to say that during the 

 month of April lands were being pet in preparation for 

 planting. Sea Island cotton ginnings for the season up to 

 April 30 amounted to 1,007 bales Selection of cotton seed 

 for planting has been stirted at the ginnery. The rainfall 

 recorded at the Botanic Station for the month was 512 

 inches; at the Experiment Station, ."rid inches. 



GRENADA. Plant distribution during the months of 

 March and April included ; orange, 5; mango, 2; ornamental 

 25; yams, 2,3801b. ; coconuts, 5,918; horse beans, 1, 6521b , 

 onions, 7 packets ; vari< us beans, 17 packets. The Superin- 

 tendent I f Agriculture states that in some sections good 

 pickings of cacao are being made, but at high altitudes pickings 

 are said to be small. Recent quotations on the English 

 market were as high as 107j^. per cwt. The condition of other 

 crops was normal. Several coco-nut trees are reported dead 

 from red ring disease. The weather continues dry. The 

 rainfall recorded at Richmond Hill Station during the month 

 of March was 64 inches; the record for April is '85 inches. 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS IN 

 PHILIPPINES. 



THE 



A report on the above subject, by W. S. Cookson, appears 

 in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Federated Malay States, 

 Vol. VI, Xo. 11. Owing to the increasing interest that 

 is being shown in tropical regions in the cultivation of coco- 

 nut trees, and the production of coco nut oil, much of the 

 report is reproduced below. 



From a definite census attempted in 1918, it would 

 appear that the total number of coco nut trees in the 

 Philippines is about 31,000,000, and the crop from them for 

 the fiscal year 1917 18 came to about 892,000,000 nuts, an 

 average production of about twenty-nine nuts per tree. 



Considerable variation is shown in the rate of yield. 

 The highest yielding district is Zamboanga, with an average 

 of 45 nuts per tree. Cebu shows 22 nuts. Five other 

 districts .show the following figures ; 19^, 19, 13, 9, 8 nuts pet 

 tree per year. Two districts show an average of only 6 nuts 

 per tree per year. 



No coco-nuts are grown near enough to Manila to make 

 possible the transport of nuts to the oil mills which are all in 

 Manila, excepting one at Cebu and one newly erected in the 

 San Pablo coconut district. All oil is made from copra. The 

 oil mills dn not own any coconut plantations, but buy copra in 

 the open market. 



The bulk of I'hilippinecopra is native dried, chiefly over 

 crude smoke kilns It is inferior to Malabar or Cochin copra, 

 and is in fact of only average marketable grade, and has no 

 special (jualities to distinguish it from other copras of similar 

 grade, produced in other parts of the world. 



The output of copra has grown steadily since 1899, when 

 it was 14,000 metric tons. In 1912 it was over 169,000 ton*. 

 Up to 1912 no oil had been produced except on a small 

 scale by antiquated processes. About 50,000,000 nuts were 

 made into oil in 1913, and some 4,600 tons of oil were 

 produced, of which only 1,300 tons were exported. In 1912 

 and 1913 modern oil mills were established, and the produc- 

 tion of coco-nut oil increased to 16,000 tons for 1916, and 

 49,800 tons for the fi.scal year ending .June 1917. In 1916 

 72,000 tons of copra were exported. Figures of copra 

 export for 1917 are not available in tons, but it is known 



