182 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 5, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, underdate May 3, 1915, with refei 

 ence to the sales of West [ndian Sea [sland cotton 



Since our last report a very small business has been 

 done in West Indian Sea. [sland; tin- Bales amount to about 

 50 bales, including St. Vincent at I7d. ami a few small lota 

 i Si Kitts, Montserrat and Nevis I5d. to I5ji. 



Prices remain steady, but in the presenl state of the war 

 we cannot look tor an improved enquiry 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ended May 8, is as follows: — 



The sales this week consisted of a -mall lot of Beaufort 

 cotton, an,] s, ,me odd bags classing Fully Fine, leaving in 



stock only Planters' crops, for which there is s lemand, 



but at prices lc. to 2c. below the views of Factors. 



The buying was on account of the Southern Mills. 



There is further demand on account of the Northern 

 Mills who remain unwilling to pay the advance asked. 



We quote, viz: — 



Extra Fine 2.">c. to 26c. = 15£d to Hut., c.i.f. & 5 pi 

 Fully Fine 24c. to 25c. = 15d. to- lojrf. „ „ „ 

 There is no stock of the lower grades. 



This report shows that the total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States bo Liverpool, 

 and Manchester, up to May 8 1915, were 10:: ami 

 1.7!' I bales, respectively. 



In connexion with the article we published on the 

 Rhodesian bacon factory, the Rhodesia Agricultural Journal 

 for February 1915 report-, that although many of the pigs 

 ice, ived at the Company's factory arc of first class quality, it 

 is stated that the proportion of piga which arc 'soft' is still 



jreat. t lare and attention to modern methods of feeding 

 are necessary it a bacon industry in a warm country is to be 



a SUCCss. 



Timehri, the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society of British Guiana (May 1915) contains 

 a very interesting and well illustrated article bj His Excel 

 lency the Governor (Sir Walter Egerton, K C.M.G.) on the 

 Railway and Hinterland Development. Another article in 

 this issue deals with the conversion and characteristics oi 

 colony timber principally in relation to its utilization in the 



e of the construction of » railway, h i- considered 



thai the sawmill for this purpose should be situated near 



town rather than in the interior, and thai . 



framed saws •linen by a Miction gg ■ , litute 



the plant. 



NOTES ON DIRECT SOWING OF SEEDS OF 



TIMBER TREES IN PLANTATIONS. 



Timber trees grown from seeds at the spot where they 

 are to remain will a- a rule flourish better, and produce finer 

 timber than those that have b,-en transplanted from nurseries 

 or from the forests, and for this reason, it is recommended 

 that seeds of cedar (Gedrela odora to.), i :ypre (Uordia geratt- 

 canthus ), balsam (Copaifera officinalis), and teak (Tectona 

 grandis) should lie sown at stake or picket. It would, 

 however, be better i- a general rule t" supply vacancies, due 



to failure of seed-, with young transplants than I > ..ait 

 another year 



To ensure a g I stand, not less than five seeds should 



be s,,unat a picket: in the case of balsam, two or the e 

 sufficient, the seeds being evenlj distributed round the 

 picket uid at about 6 inches from it. When more than one 

 plant results, the surplus can be used as transplants to supply 

 vacancies without injury to the plant left. 



The planting spots should be about 2 feet to 30 inches 

 across, and should lie cleared of all weeds, and the soil well 

 broken up and made quite tine. 



Small seeds, such as cedar and cyprc, should be covered 

 with not more than .! inch of line soil; balsam and teak may 



be covered with 1 inch. Seels should be sown in the position 

 in which they would naturally lie if dropped on the ground. 



Sowing is best ,|olie after rain, but seeds will keep 

 fresher even in dry weather, if covered with a thin la 

 tine soil than if kept in stoic. 



It is of great importance that seeds, with the exception 



of teak, should be sown when quite fresh. It has been found 

 thai 80 per cent, to 93 per cent, oi cedai seeds will germin- 

 ate within a fortnight in moist soil w hen sown within a month 

 of collection, and 76 per cent, after three month:-. \t si\- 



months the seels are worthless. 



Cypre seeds sown at pickets as soon as collected 



produced 90 per cent, success, and one month after coll 



16 percent, germinated. At three months old I lie\ , !l 



probably be Useless. 



Balsam seeds will keep for two or three months, but 

 give best results when quite fresh. 



Teak seeds will as a l ule gel mi nate better when one 

 year "Id than when quite fresh, and it has been lound that 

 when sown fresh a fat larger proportion grow in the 

 year than in the year they are sown. 



Three or four weeks after the tii si sowing, if rain has 



fallen, i sec 1 sowing should lie made at the pickets at 



which no plants have grown, to reduce the proportion of 

 transplants necessary. Even in the case ,,i teak, a second 

 -owing is recommended; any surplus plants not required as 

 supplies may be cul out. In dry weather cunt the weeks 



fri 'in I lc- first rain. 



In addition to the re-sowing or more nurseries 



should be made in or near the plantation, from which supplies 



'■an 1 btained as required. These nurseries should be 



sown at the same time-as the plantation. The seeds in the 

 i.,y lie sow ii two oi i Inc.' together u ~|mi- Eo il 

 apart in rows, the rows being 2 feel apart 



A distance of 111 feet b\ 10 feet is recommended lor 



a timbei plantation, for, although the trees cannot grow to 



full maturity so close together, they will be forced to inn 



.It trunks, and thinnings can be made as i 



(Bulletin a) t/u Department of Agriculture, Trinidad.) 



