358 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 8, 1913, 



COTTON. 



THE SOIL 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholtne and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date October 20, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton: — 



Tbere has not been any business passing in West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton s-ince our last report, as spinners supplied 

 their wants for some time ahead with their recent purchases 

 of the balance of last season's crop, and at present they are 

 not inclined to buy further. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending October IS, is as follows: — 



The receipts to date are 416 bales against 560 last year. 

 Factors are disappointed at not receiving larger receipts. 

 They are anxious for the market to open, and are asking for: 



Ectra Fine 27c. = 15]rf. c.i.f., «fc5percent. 



Fally Fine 25c. = li^d „ „ 



Pine 23c. = 13|d. „ „ „ „ 

 Fully Fine tol 



Extra Fine off 22c. = 12id. „ „ „ „ 

 in preparation ) 



At these prices they would be willing sellers, as they 

 do not wish their receipts to accumulate. 



This report shows that the total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 Manchester and Havre up to October IN, 1913, were 

 2,187 bales, 2,878 bales, and 725 bales, respectively. 



British Cotton Growing Association.— At the 

 one hundred and sixteenth meeting of the Council of the 

 British Cotton Growing Association it was reported that it is 

 yet too early to estimate what the present year's Wsst African 

 supply is likely to be, as the yield largely depends upon 

 climatic conditions: these up to the present have been quite 

 satisfactory, (^ratification was expres.sed at the increased 

 demand which has arisen for the Association's West African 

 cotton. 



The Nyasaland Government, it was stated, have made 

 arrangements for the native-grown cotton to be divided into 

 four dirt'erent grades, for which dill'erent prices will be paid 

 according to quality. It is hoped that thi.s regulation will 

 lead to a general improvement. Unfavourable climatic 

 conditions were reported for the cotton crop in the High- 

 lands, which has proved disappointing, although it promised 

 well in the early part of the year. In the lower river 

 .districts, howewer, where the cultivation is largely carried on 

 by natives, the crop will he a good one, and in the aggregate 

 it is hoped that the total exports will not be lower than 

 last year. 



The estimate sulimitted by the Government Agricultural 

 Department of Uganda shows that the cotton crop in that 

 Protectorate for 19 13- 14 will probably be double the crop of 

 the previous year. Arrangements have been made to send 

 out additional ginning plants to deal with the increased 

 •quantity of cotton now being produced in the Protectorate. 



Cupric Treatments and the Nitrification of 



the Soil. — Owing to the fact that soluble copper salts are 

 poisonous tn plants, it might be supposed that the application 

 of sprays and washes containing copper might under some 

 circumstances prove injurious to cultivated plants, particularly 

 after .such treatinejU has been practised over a large number 

 of 3^e-irs on the same land. The idea suggested itself to the 

 Director of the Agricultural Station of Saone-et-Loire, to 

 investigate whether the accumulation of a certain amount of 

 copper in the soil might be injurious to nitrification. In 

 order to investii;ate the matter, the writer made several .series 

 of experiments using solutions of copper sulphate. An accoant 

 of these experiments is given in the Moul/ili/ Bulletin of 

 Agricultufdl Inlelliffenre and Plant /)iseaf:es (August 1911). 

 Assuming that the nitrification of the control was almost 

 complete, the conclusions are that: (1) The presence in the 

 soil of copper salts aft'ords no special obstacle to nitrification: 

 with above 2 per .cent, of copper salt, the nitric nitrogen 

 was still GO per cent, of that contained in the control, and 

 with 01 per cent, of copper sulphate the nitric nitrogen rose 

 to 90 per cent, of fhat in the control. (2) Copper salts intro- 

 duced into the soil, rapidly assume an insoluble form when in 

 contact with calcium carbonate, iron oxide, and alumina, 

 which accounts for their weak inhiliitive action on nitrifica- 

 tion, even when large quantities are employed. Finally, 

 seeing that the copper which finds its way into the soil from 

 the alkaline washes is already in an insoluble condition, there 

 is thus no reason to apprehend injurious results from the 

 frequent use of cupric wasbes. 



Subsoil Blasting Demonstration in Trmidad, 



1913. — Since there is every possibility of experiments being 

 conducted at Antigua in regard to the employment of 

 dynamite for soil improvement, a short account of a report on 

 similar tests made recentlj' in Trinidad should prove 

 interesting. 



According to the Proceedings of (lie Agricultural Society 

 of Trinidad and Tobago (September 1913), an improvement 

 in the crops on certain water-logged plots of land from the 

 use of dynamite has shown itself even after so short a period 

 as three months. This has occurred principally in the case of 

 bananas; but sanguine hopes are held that a similar elfect, 

 after a year or two, will be witnessed in regard to cacao. 

 Much succes.s has followed the use of dynamite for making 

 holes for planting coco-nuts, and for blowing up old stumps 

 of trees. 



Mr. H. Vincent, who has been conducting the trials, 

 places the cost of the operations at the undermentioned 

 prices: — 



Rejuvenating standing cacao $U) 00 per acre 



„ old coco-nuts $15-00 „ „ 



„ young coco-nuts $12'00 „ „ 



Blasting holes for cultivation 



of coco-nuts .«10'00 „ „ 



As regards the imjiortation and storage of the 

 dynamite, there should be no ditliculties: in Trinidad, the 

 Board of Agriculture have moved and carried a resolution 

 requesting the <iovernment to offer and encourage every 

 facility for the importation, storage and use under competent 

 supervision of dynamite cartridges. Fears that the explosive 

 becomes dangerous on keeping in a hot climate may be 

 dispelled ; if anything, it is frost which sometimes makes 

 dynamite, if not handled with the utmost care, liable to 

 undergo spontaneous combustion. 



