Vol, XVII. No. 419. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS, 



lol 



BRITISH COTTON GROWING ASSOCI- 

 ATION. 



The one hundred and .seventieth nieeting of the Council 

 of the British Cotton Crowing Association was lield at the 

 (Jffices, 1 Cross Street, Manchester, on Tuesday the 9th. 

 instant. In the absence of the I'resident (The Kt. Hon. 

 the Earl of Derby. K.G,) Mr.]!. -1. Clegg occupied the 

 Chair. 



WK.sT .\KRiuA. The purchases ot cotton in Lagos to 

 March 31 amounted to 886 bales, as compared with 3,714 

 bales for the same period of last year, 1,201 bales for 191'), 

 and 1,880 bales for 1915. 



In Northern Nigeria the purchases to ilarch 31 

 amounted to 2,142 bales, as compared with 3,3-j3 bales for 

 the same period of last year, 8,3.56 bales for 191ti, and 229 

 bales for 1915. 



The increased buying price which the Association have 

 arranged to pay for this season's crop is welcomed by the 

 natives, and should result in the farmers having every con- 

 fidence in i!ultivating cotton, and in further increasing the 

 area under cotton. The reports from Lagos all siate that 

 the season is a late one, as too much rain fell during the 

 planting season, and in many cases, owing to this, the seed 

 did not germinate; fortunately the Harmattan winds held 

 ofiF until late, which will give the late plantings a better 

 chance of maturing. 



It is expected that the crop of long stapled .\merican 

 cotton grown under the supervision of the Government 

 Agricultural Department in the Zaria District of Northern 

 Nigeria, will amount to about 1,000 bales; although this is 

 less than had been e.>:pected, it is a great improvement on 

 previous results, and will give ample seed for distribution 

 for planting purposes another season. It is understood that 

 this variety has done better under the unfavourable climatic 

 conditions than the indigenous tyjies. A number of regu- 

 lations have been made by the Government, with a view 

 to preventing a mixing of seed of this long stapled cotton 

 with the native varieties, and it is hoped that these regu- 

 lations will prove effective. 



THE ANTIGUA CENTRAL SUGAR 

 FACTORY. 



The thirteenth annual report of the Directors of the 

 Antigua Sugar Factory, Limited, for the jear ended Septem- 

 ber 30, 1917, has been forwarded to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies. Besides 

 the purely financial statement cintained in the report, 

 some observations with regard to the future of the cane 

 .sugar industry in Aniigua will be useful and instructive to 

 others interested in the questions involved. 



In the first place, the total tonnage of canes dealt with 

 •during the year was 102,593 tons, derived from the following 

 sources: the original contractors -upplied 25,796 ton.s, for 

 which £1 16,»'. per ton was paid including the bonus; new 

 contractors supplied 71,172 tons of cane, for which 

 £1 9.i-, ii/. per ton was paid including bonus: from peasants 

 were bought 5,624 tons at the rate of 20.f. Id/, per ton. 



The report shows that the factory charges, which 

 include such items as salaries and wages, repairs and ta-ices, 

 were £3 18,f 5i/. per ton of sugar tnade; railway transport 

 charges were 1 8.>-. 3^/. per ton of sugar; while administration 

 charges were 2s. 9(/. The number of tons of sugar made 

 jn 1917 was 11,705, and the total proceeds from this sugar 



and the molasses produced was £252,617. The total 

 expenditure on the other hand was £184,560, thus leaving 

 a surplus for division of .somewhat more than £68,000. 



It is evident that though the weather was not so 

 favourable, nor the yield per acre so high as in the year 1916, 

 it has again been a successful year for the company, as 

 prices were better, and there was an increase of sucrose in 

 the cane. The factory work has maintained, if not even 

 surpassed, the high level it reached in 1916, as the following 

 figures will show. The sucrose left in megass in 1916 was 

 3-01 percent., in 1917 it was lowered to 266; the purity 

 of juice in 1916 was 83'95, in 1917 it was increased to 

 84-78; the recovery of sucrose in 1916 was 8448, it was 

 84-52 in 1917; the yield of sugar 96° in 1916 was 1101, 

 in 1917 it was 11-42. 



The Directors remark that the grinding season was 

 again unduly protracted to .Vugust 24. Estate managers 

 have represented to the Directors 'that such a late 

 finish of a crop has a very prejudicial effeit on the following 

 i-rop, and that one of the most important steps towards 

 securing a heavier tonnage of cane per acre would be to 

 finish by the end of -lune. This could be done if crop were 

 begun not later than February 1, and if the same full reap- 

 ing Avere carried out on Mondays and Tuesdays as on the 

 later days of the week. With regard to this slacking otf 

 of work on -Mondays and Tuesday.s, which occurs probably 

 'inly in Antigua, the Directors would urge estate managers 

 to endeavour to bring about a change in this custom, in the 

 interest of their estates, and in the interests of the labourers 

 themselves also. 



The cjuestion of higher wages has been met for the 

 present by an adequate advance which the high prices for 

 sugar have enabled the estates to make. For the prosperity 

 of the island, hov?ever, the Directors point out that it is of 

 the utmost importance to avoid a return later on to the 

 low pre-war rates of wages, and important also that the pay 

 of managers and overseers should not fall back again to 

 the former low scale The risk of this would be removed, 

 if heavier crops per acre could be produced. The improve- 

 ment in the present recovery of sucrose in the factory, as 

 compared with the average of the five years immediately 

 preceding the war, is equivalent to giving the planters 

 '21 tons e.xtra cane per acre. Proprietors and managers 

 may be able to do as much by introducing improvements in 

 methods of agriculture, and again, there is reason to hope 

 that as much might also be brought about by the labourers 

 giving full work on Mondays and Tuesdays, and farther 

 by their reducing holidays in crop time, thus enabling 

 the reaping to be finished early. If all this could be success- 

 fully accomplished, it would be equivalent to an addition of 

 7^ tons of cane or £5 per acre (calculated at pre-war prices). 

 After allowing for extra expenditure on many items neces- 

 sary for increasing the crops, there would still be enough to 

 maintain adei|uately all rates of pay. 



The most notable feature of the crop statistics for 

 1917 of Rhodesia is the largely augmented area of land under 

 cultivation, an increase of 46,092 acres being returned. 

 Out of these no less than 28,503 were planted in maize 

 as a grain crop. Without doubt the Imperial offer to 

 [mrchase all maize produced acted as a stimulant to its 

 cultivation. The total amount of land under maize for the 

 year is returned as 203, 1 50 acres, fri >m which were reaped 

 938,130 bags of 200 lb. weight, giving an average yiell of 

 462 bags per acre. (The Rhodesia Agnculliiral fnitriial, 

 February 1918.) 



