•294 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Skitembkk 20, 1919. 



COTTON NOTES. 



COTTON EXPORTS FROM THE 



WEST INDIES. 



The following figures show the qiiantitj" and estimated 

 value of Sea Island cotton exported from the West Indies 

 for the quarter ended June 30, 1919; — 



Colony. 



Orenada 



St. Vincent 



Barbados 



Montserrat 



Antigua 



St. Kitts 



Nevis 



Anguilla 



,r. . fseed-cotton l,6SSifa.t 

 Virgin I '— — 



Islands 1 ^ * ^ 



I =42-2DE). + 1,8728.. 



Trinidad 



Quantity Estimated value, 

 in n>. £. 



1,595 240 



234,943 35,264 

 35,569 5,928 



71,504* 8,699 



71,2.50 10,688 



71,519 10,728 



73,609 11,041 

 1,530 230 



= 18,.':)94 



nil. 



580,113 



703 



nil. 



8.5,521 



Hesides tlie above there were also exported from Grenada, 

 268,128 B). of Marie Galante cotton, of an estimated value of 

 £10,406, and from St. Vincent, 21,679 fl). of Marie Galante 

 seed-cotton equal to 5,420 B) of lint., of an estimated value 

 of £452. 



Barbados also exported 3,150 ft), of linters valued at 

 X89, and the Virgin Islands 4,202 ft> of native cotton 

 valued at £3 1 5 



*The cotton exported from Montserrat comprised 

 40.4931b. of clean lint valued at 3.s. 4d. per Iti., and 25, Oil tt.. 

 sttined lint valued at l.s per ft. 



+.Soa Island seed-cutton equal to 422 Hi. nf lint, as shown 

 alnive. 



MEADE COTTON. 



The Empire Cotton Growing Goininittee has 

 circulated for general information, the following 

 important extracts from recent publications of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, ("l^nited States J)(;partment 

 of Agriculture, and from Science{Ju\y 5, 191X). Study 

 of the facts given below will suggest that Meade 

 cotton may possibly enter into competition with the 

 West Indian Sea Island products: — 



This name lias been given to a new Upland long-staple 

 variety representing the nearest approach to Sea Island 

 cotton in length and fineness of fibre. The original selection 

 was made in 1912, at Clarksville. Texas, in a field of a 

 variety locally called ' Jilackaeed ' or ' Black Battler', but 

 D9t the same as the varieties that have borne these names 

 in other parts of the cotton belt. 



Mr. lioland M. Meade, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 was the first to appreciate the possibilities of breeding a 

 superior type from this stock, and the work was well under 

 ■way at the time of bis death in June 1916. The variety 

 has been named Meade in his honour. As now grown in the 



Southeastern States, it produces lint avenging 1^ indie* 

 in length. The fibres are exceptionally uniform, with little 

 or no tendency to ' butterfly ' (due to short fibre at the base- 

 of the seeds), which was one of ihe unde-irable traits of the 

 older long staple varieties, such as Fioridora, SunHower, and 

 Allen. The seeds are large aud brownish black, being only 

 slightly tufted wiih while fuzz at either end, like the seeds 

 of the Sea Island and Egyptian cotton, so that it 

 is possible to use the roller gins wiih which the Sea Island 

 growers are already equipped. The only difficulty arises 

 from the fact tliat th« Meade seeds average somi^what larger 

 than the Sea Island, but this can be avoided by a slight 

 modification of the ginning equipment. 



Under boll weevil conditions in Georgia, the Meade 

 has given excellent results, yielding three to four times as 

 much as the Sea Island cotton when planted in alternate 

 blocks, so that careful comparisons could be made The lint 

 has been received on the Sea Island markets of Georgia in 

 competition with Sea Island cotton, with very favourable 

 comments. Several bales of tie Meade were sold in Savan- 

 nah in 1917, at a premium of i-cent above the current 

 price of Sea Island cotton Tie following is a descriptioH 

 of the variety : Plant erect, of average height, with regular 

 internodes of medium length on both the main stalk and on 

 the vegetative brandies. Internodes of the fruiting branches 

 rather long, with little tendency to take the shortened 

 'cluster' form. Leaves of medium size and rather thin texture, 

 not deeply cut, a larger projjortion with only three lobes 

 than in most varieties. Invo'ucral bracts of medium size 

 not exceeding the bolls, with ten slender teeth. Bolls 

 met'.ium size with a thin bur, opening,' readily even 

 under humid conditions. Seeds large, about 3,U00 to the ft)., 

 nearly naked after the lint is remnved, brownish black, 

 slightly tufied at eiher end. lint \\ to 1[,'. inches 

 in length, uniform, with good lustre, slightly heavier bodied 

 than Sea Island cotton, scarcely distinguishable from iiea 

 Island when properly ginned. Lint percentage 26: lint 

 index 5'5. 



In comparison with alternate blocks of Meade and Sea 

 Island cotton grown near Valdosta Ga.. in the season of 

 1917, Meade was pioked two weeks in advance of the Sea 

 Island, and yielded almost twice as much, 230 fb. 

 as compared with 117 ft). Picking is easier because 

 the Meade bolls are about twice as largs as the Sea Island. 

 Ten 4-liicked bolls of the Meade variety yielded ().5-7 

 grams of seed cotton compared with 35-7 grams from 

 ten 41ocked bolls of Sea Island, but 75 per cent, of the 

 Sea Island bolls have only three locks. The Meade has 75 

 per cent, of 41ocked and 25 per cent, of 5-locked bolls. On 

 account of the larger size of the seeds, the lint percentage 

 is lower in the Meade than in Sea Island cotton— at Valdosta 

 26'8 per cent, for the Meade and 307 for Sea Island. This 

 is at the rate of 1,365 ft), of seed to a 500 ft), bale of 

 Meade, compared to 1,111 ft), of seed from a 500 ft), bale of 

 Sea Island cotton. The oil content of the Meade seed is 

 unusually high, about 24 per cent, having been reported. 

 Both varieties yielded fibre of the same length, 1 J; inches. 



In order to be a successful competitor with Sea Island 

 cotton on the Sea Island markets, it is necessary that the 

 Meade cotton be harvested and ginned in the same manner, 

 and with care equal to that with which the Sea Island is 

 usually handled. 



That the Meade variety was not produced Ijy hybridi- 

 zation but by the discovery and selection of a superior type 

 already existing, is of interest in relation to the heredity. 

 Confusion is likeiy to arise as already shown by unauthorized 

 statements appearing in newspapers and agricultural 



