31 J 



THE AGRICULTURAL rf&WS. 



i). Linn; -J:;, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



The Eteporl of Messrs. Henry W. Frosl & Co., 

 i nd cotton in the Southern Stati s, for 

 the weeks ending September 25 and < Ictober 2, res- 

 pectively, is as follows: — 



The total receipts of the new crop up to date are only 



11 bales. They are not being offered for sale, as the Factors 



led to put no cotton on the market until there is 



some accumulation of stock. Consequently the market will 



n it open until the early part of next month. 



1 h receipts for the week were 37 bales, making in all to 

 date only 60 Kales. The Factors are not offering this limited 

 snpply, preferring to wait until there is sufficient accumu- 

 lation to admit of their being aide to judge better the quality. 



British Cotton Growing Association. -The 

 one hundred and thirty-ninth meeting of the Council of the 

 British Cotton Growing Association was held at the Offices, 



15 CrOSS Street. Manchester, on Tuesday September 7. 



The President (The lit. Bon. The Karl of Derby, K.G.) 

 occupied the * 'hair. 



u i - 1 wi;i. \. Considerable quantities of cotton seed 

 have been distributed in LagOS for planting for the new crop, 

 and the seed is being freely taken by the native tanners, and 

 on the whole the people do not appear to bi di ;ouraged by 

 the reduced prices which are being paid for cotton, but are 

 sowing as much as ever. The rainfall has been more 

 satisfactory than for some years, and there is reason to 

 anticipate a large crop next season. 



The purchases of cotton in Lagos to date amount to 5,856 

 bales, as compared with 13,415 bales for the same period of 



last year, and 13,557 bales for 1913. 



The purchases in Northern Nigeria to the end of July 

 were 137 bales, against 505 bales for last year. 



It has been decided to close down the operations in the 

 Cold ('oast and at Illushi (Southern Nigeria), but it is 

 proposed to make arrangements for the Labolabo < (innery to 

 be kept open during the cotton season for the benefit of those 



planters who may continue to grow cotton. 



%■, VSALAUD. The buying prices for the new native cotton 



crop have been fixed after careful deliberation between the 

 Director of Agriculture and the Association's representative. 

 Slight reductions in price have had to be effected in certain 

 districts, but these were inevitable in the present condition 

 of the cotton market and the Governor is satisfied thai they 



are the most liberal terms whicl old have been offered by 



buyer-. The picking oi the new crop has commenced, and it 

 i- expected that the crop will be an average one. 



west INDIES. Arrangements have been made for guaran- 



ing a fixed price for tie 1915 16 crop of the Wesl Indian 



Sea Island Cotton, and should any cotton prove to be superior 



to the fixed standard, a relatively higher price will be paid, 



and lower prices where the cotton is beloy the standard. 



It is hoped that these arrangements will encourage the 

 Planters in the West Indie- t. ntinue cotton cultivation, 



SMOKING THE MANGO. 



In connexion witn an enquiry made by this Depart- 

 menl at K'« concerning the practice of 'smoking' pine- 

 apples in the Azores, which has been found to hasten 

 thetimeof flowering. of thai plant (see Agricultural 

 News, Vol. Kill, No. 320, p, 245), the Assistant 

 Director of Hew (Mr. A. \V. Hill. MA F.L.S i has 

 forwarded to this Office.a copy id' an interesting account 

 appearing in No. 104 of the publications of the United 

 S ites Office of Foreign Si sd and Plant Importation, 

 on the subject of the effect of smoke on the mang 



Mr. Ilemy II. Boyle on bis late visit to America was 

 requested to write a full account of a very interesting practice 

 of the Filipinos which they believe ensures a good crop of 

 mangoes. In his letter oi Modi 6, 1915, he gives the 

 following description of 'The smoking of mangos': A tire is 



built under the tree, then a baml nield is place,) so that 



the smoke from the fire is directed upward through bhe 

 branches of the tree. In some cases a -moke stack is made 



out of baml and placed under the tree. The fire is built 



under the hood. This is by far the most effective method of 

 having the smoke spread through the branches of the tree. 

 The natives of Cavite Province start to smoke the mango trees 

 the first part of August and continue until the flowers have 

 been pollinated and the fruit set. The time consumed in 

 smoking is about one month. Weeds, leaves and rubbish 

 are used for fuel. Care should be taken not to lei the 

 materials blaze. This can be prevented by placing rice 

 chaff, banana leaves or sawdust upon the pile to be burned. 

 The object of the smoking is, according to the natives, to 

 cause the tree to produce flowers earlier and to have the 

 fruit ripen earlier. It also helps to dry the flowers which have 

 become wet from the dew and materially helps to keep" down 

 the harmful insects and fungus. The smoking is stopped 

 when the fruit is thesiz° of a marble. Nicking is performed 

 when the tree readies the age of six or seven years. The 

 time selected is about the first part of November, which is the 

 dry period in the province of Cavite. The tree is tirst nicked 

 from the ground upward as far on the trunk as it is possible 

 to reach, or to the first branch. Care should be taken not to 

 injure the cambium layer to too great an extent. The 

 smoking is performed upon trees that have not been 

 nicked or ta<ja as they say in Tagalog. The nicked or 

 slashed trees after smoking will produce fruits three months 

 earlier than those that have not been nicked or smoked. 

 This nicking is done by a sharp bolo. When 1 tirst saw the 

 nicking and smoking stunt used on mango trees, I was of 

 opinion that it was more injurious than beneficial, but now 

 after three years of observation lean readily see that it is 

 a wonderful help to trees' raised from seeds. They fruit and 

 fruit earlier than those not treated in the manner described, 

 and I have never seen any bad results caused by the nicking 

 or smoking. This is saying a good deal as 1 have seen 

 mango trees in every large island of the Philippines, treated 

 in the manner described. There is another matter, regarding 

 mangies, which | spoke to you about when last in Washington: 

 namely the method employed by the natives for keeping 

 mangoes six months. It is as follows: A kerosene tin which 



holds 5 gallons is used as the receptacle. An equal amount 

 of second grade molasses and sawdusl is mixed or as much 

 molasses as the sawdust will absorb is used. The quantity of 

 the above material used depends upon the amount of mang 

 placed in the tin. It is however, necessary to have 

 mangoes completely immersed. The tin is then made air 

 lit by soldering. The second grade molasses is cheap 



