326 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 17, 1908. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme & Hollaml, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, on September 28 last, in reference to 

 the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



< )wing to the strike in the cotton trade, busine.ss in all 

 kinds of cotton is more or less .suspended, with the le.-sult 

 that only 40 bales of West Indian cotton have been sold. 

 These include some vet-y superior St. Vincent and RarUados, 

 at 1S(/. to -llld., and 10 bales of .stains at 7r/. 



Owing to lack of deu^and, American 8ea Islands are 

 being [)ressed for sale, and prices are rather lower. 



COTTON IN THE SEA ISLANDS. 



In their Sea Island cotton report, dated Septem- 

 ber 2G last, Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., of Charles- 

 ton, write : — 



Although ITS liale.s of the new season's crop from the 

 islands have been received during the week, none of this has 

 j'et been sampled and shown on the market. There lias been 

 some enquiry for planters' crops remaining over from last 

 season, l)Ut at Idu prices. The .sales were oidy two crop lots, 

 whii-li were sold for France at 32c. i>er tt). Freer receipts of 

 the new crop may now be expected, and the market should 

 open in the icuuse of ten days from date. 



COTTON GROWING IN JAMAICA. 



I jltlc has yet been <lonf in the way <>( Sea Island cottim 

 cultivation in .laniaica, althotigh recent efforts in that 

 direction ap])ear more promising than those made .some few 

 years ago. The arrangement anntiunced at the late Lanca- 

 shire Ciitton Conference, l)y which the Elder l)empster Ship- 

 ping Company undertake to shiji to Kngland free of charge 

 all cotton grown in .Jamaica during the nc.\t twelve months 

 .should certainly provi^ of material lieli) and encouragement to 

 llir industry in tin' island. , 



A re|)ort has lately been pulilished of the re.-iilts of 

 a trial cultivation in cotton growing made, during the past 

 season, on one of Lord Dudley's estates in I'pper Clarendon, 

 Jamaica. An area of 60 acres was planted with the croj>. 

 and the work was placed un4,er the supervision of .Mr. Conrad 

 Wiitson, an cxpcrienctMl planter from Monlserrat. liriefly 

 stated, the crop consisted of 25,700 tt). of seed-cotton, yield 

 ing 7,196 tt). of lint, and 8 tons of seed. The yield of lint 

 was at the rale of 120 llj. per acre. In spite of this, the 

 estimated returns amounted to£:?9I 16.'>- , while the estimated 

 expenses amounted to £'2S0, leaving a credit balance of 

 .£111 16.V. In this instance the cost of management was not 

 included. Taking into a<-coinit the fact tliat the .season was 

 an exceptionally dry one, the return, as a wluile, is not of an 

 nnsatisfactoi'v character. 



THE HORSE CULTIVATOR FOR 

 COTTON. 



The following article, which deals with the use of 

 the horse cultivator in growing cotton, has been 

 contributed by Mr. Thomas Thornton, A.R.C.S., late 

 Travelling Inspector in connexion with Cott(jn Inves- 

 tigations under the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture : — 



Since the re-intioduction of Sea Inland cotton growing 

 in the West Indies, there is no point in relation to the 

 cultivation of the crop which has been more constantly 

 emphasized by the Iniperial ] )epartraent of Agriculture thau 

 the necessity for adopting the methods of garden (!ultivatioii 

 if success is to be attained. In this connexion two points 

 must always be borne in mind : ( 1 ) weeds must be kept 

 diwn, and (2) a good surface mulch of sod must be 

 maintained. 



In a place such as llarbados. where great efforts have- 

 constantly been nuide to exterminate weed growth, it is not 

 such a ditlicult matter to kee[i the fields clean : l)ut in other 

 islands it is a more serious nndertaking. 



The luaiTiteuance of a good surface mulch is still more 

 ditlicult. To ensure this, the surface soil has to be coiistantly 

 stine<l, which is both a te<lious and ex])ensive operation if 

 carried out liy hand hoeing. It is, however, an operation 

 which no cotton ])lanter who hopes to be successful can afford 

 to neglect. .. 



The mechanical condition of the .soil is a most impor- 

 tant factor towards keeping the plants strong, healthy, and 

 vigorous, so that they may produce and tiring to maturity 

 a numher of bolls, and also be in a condition l)etter to with- 

 stand the attacks of in.sect pests and fungus disea.ses. It is 

 not sufficient to pre[)are the ground well liefore l>lanting : the- 

 soil nuist also be kept in suitable condil ion throughout the 

 growing period of the plant. 



During time of drought it is especially important 

 that a good surface nntlcii is maintained. It is well known 

 that a .soil, the surface of wliiili has l)cen allowed to cake and 

 harden, gives up moisture nmch more rajiidly than when the- 

 surface layer is kept regularly pulverised : and planters in 

 dry districts have learnt liy experience that the liest returns 

 with a limited rainfall are obtained when the surface i.s 

 tiioken up after eaij]i shower. 



The c|uestion of how to eairy out these weeding an<l 

 unilchiug o|«Mations in a satisfu'tory way and at a cheap 

 rate, an<l moreover, in such a way as not to injure the spread- 

 ing secondary roots of the plants cultivated, which, in manj' 

 cases, are not more than 2 or .'5 inches from the surface, is 

 one which has received a good deal of attention from agri- 

 culturists. Having this oliject in view, implement makers 

 have iiut machines of various (U'siijns on the mnrket. Some 



