29 t 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Septembeb 11, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date August 2-'>, 1915, with refer- 

 ence to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton: — 



There has been a little business done in West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton since our last report; the sales amount to 

 100 to 150 bales: they include St. Vincent L8rf. to 20<f., with 

 a" few bales of superfine al 30cr.. and a few Nevis and 

 Montserrat of the best quality at 15rf. Prices are steady. 



BRITISH COTTON GROWING 

 ASSOCIATION. 



The one hundred and thirty-eighth meeting of the Council 

 of the liritish Cotton Growing Association was held at the 

 Offices, 15 Cross Street, Manchester, on Tuesday the 3rd 

 ultimo. The President, The lit. Hon. the Earl of Derby, 

 K.G.. occupied the Chair. 



Reference was made to the loss which the Association 

 had sustained by the death of Mr. F. Reyner, audit was 

 decided to semi a letter of sympathy to his family. 



u est AFRICA. The purchases of cotton in Lagos to 

 July 31, amounted to 5,108 bales as compared with 13,267 

 bales for the same period of last year, and 13,284 bales 

 for 1913. 



The rainfall this season in Lagos for the first time for 

 some years has been ample, and as all foodstuffs have now 

 been planted there is a possibility that the 1916 cotton crop 

 will be a large one, more especially so as there has been 

 a considerable reduction in the buying price of most other 

 products as compared with the price of cotton. 



si'iuN. The total crop from the Sudan this season will 

 amount to over 2 -1.0(10 hales, valued at about .£300,000. 

 The Association have given a great deal of assistance in 

 financing and handling the crop. The yields at the Experi- 

 mental Stations on the Gezira Plain during the past season 

 amounted to over 450 tt>. of lint cotton per acre, which is 

 a very satisfactory result. 



OGANDA. Owing to the necessity of planting large 

 quantities of foodstuffs, it is likely that the production of 

 cotton will be restricted for some time. During the past 

 season the Association have been paying the natives the 

 highest price possible for their cotton, otherwise 1 there would 

 have been a much greater reduction in the acreage under 

 cotton. 



I luring the month sales have been made of 3,356 bales 

 of the Association's cotton, which was considered very satis- 

 factory under the present conditions. 



It has often been represented that cotton is a new 

 industry in Jamaica, whereas it is older than the sugar 

 industry, the aborigines of Jamaica having been growers and 

 manufacturers c,f cotton. The history of cotton in this 

 island is not without bearing cm the present situation. < Uder 

 experiences indicate that the industry was alone profitable 

 in Jamaica when perennial tropical cottons of medium 

 staple wen- cultivated as by the Aiawaks. In 1793Bryan 

 Edwards described cotton as a staple crop of Jamaica, while 

 Macfadyen in his 'Flora' described the cotton formerly grown 

 here > a pen nnial plant that seldom came into hearing until 

 the second year. 



LARGE YIELDS OF CAUTO COTTON IN 

 JAMAICA. 



Reference was made in the Agricultural News, 

 for December 5, 1!U4, to Cauto cotton in Jamaica, 

 where it is stated that pints established at Hope ill 

 August 1918 gave a crop of cotton in January to 

 March of the next year amounting to about GOO to. of 

 seed-cotton per aero. The lint was valued at 8(2. per 

 pound in London and at Itic. to 17c. in New York. 



The latest issue of the Bulb tin of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Jamaica, goes on to siy: — 



A plot of 50 acres was established on honeycomb rock 

 lands in lower Clarendon and this grew well and gave 

 a return of 700 B). of seed-cotton for the first crop. Despite 

 the serious die .tight of the summer of 1914 the plants 

 ratooned successfully and gave 50 bales of cotton in the early 

 part of 1915. The plants at the Experiment Station at Hope 

 were tested in various ways with regard to pruning and it 

 was found that they stood hard pruning in a remarkable 

 manner and rapidly sprang again into new growth. 



The unpruned plants were a good deal damaged by 

 scale, and most of the old plants were cut hack in September 

 on this account. Those that escaped scale attack and were 

 left unpruned gave a return of 900 lh. of seed-cotton per 

 acre. 



All the August sown plants of 1914 and the late cut- 

 backs of 1913, however, lost their creep in March owing t8 

 'boll rot'. 



Fundamentally due to climatic influences, the Micro- 

 biologist traced the injury to infection of the bolls through 

 the punctures of cotton stainers functioning as a means of 

 access to the interior of the bolls by the organism causing 

 the 'rot'. 



As Sea Island and Egyptian cottons were equally affected 

 by this trouble, under similar conditions, it must be regarded 

 as due to the climatic conditions and not to a peculiar 

 susceptibility of cauto cotton. 



All the plants at Hope were cut hack in April and 

 sprayed with lime-sulphur wash as a precaution and are now 

 in fresh and vigorous growth. 



If '('ante Cotton' can provide us in Jamaica with 

 a perennial cotton capable of giving returns over a series of 

 seasons without the risk of an annual planting it should prove 

 a valuable economic: plant, while its remarkable growth on 

 the arid limestone area in lower Clarendon indicates that it 

 can be grown successfully on these lands which, so far, have 

 been useless for purposes of cultivation. 



Botanical specimens of the plant in all stages were 

 prepared by Mr. W. Hani-, F.L.S., and on submission to 

 Kew were determined to be a now variety of cotton to which 

 the name Gossypium brasilimse, var. apospertnum (Sprague) 

 has been assigned. This places it as a clean seeded form of 

 our common wild 'Kidney' cotton. 



In connexion with the use of certain plants for hedges 

 for protecting fields and gardens in the West Indies, the 



name ot Cnllinndt'i teryeiimi't, a native plant of Dominica, 



known locally as the Bois Ravine, might be added to the list 

 already given in the Agricultural News. 



This plant does not possess spines, but the growth is 

 rapid and dense and it is highly suitable for ornamental 

 hedges in gardens. It flowers freely several times during 

 the spring, at which time it is a most showy object. Owing 

 ohiefly to its ornamental appearance this plant is now being 

 used for hedges in the Dominica Botanic Gardens. 



