198 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Juke 19, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under dates May 17 and 31, L915, 



respectively, with reference to the sales of West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton: — 



Since our last report (May 3) about LOO t.. L 50 bales oi 

 West Indian Sea Island cotton have been Bold, chiefly 

 St. Kitts 16rf. to 16$c?., and Barbados] \\<1. 



There is still very little demand ami this industry is 

 much disorganized, owing to the war in Northern France. 



Since our last report (.May 17) about tin bales of West 

 Indian Sea Island cotton have been sold, chieflj St. Vincent 

 at 17rf., with a tew Montserrat at 1 tyd. 



Then- is very little doing, Imt prices are comparatively 

 steady. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ended May 29, is as follows:— 



TKe market has remained very quiet. There is some 

 inquiry which resulted in sales of only 5 bales (portion of 

 a crop) on private terms. The unsold stock consists entirely 

 of Planters' crops classing Extra Fine anil held at •_'■>. to 30c. 



There being no odd bags the quotations for graded 

 cotton are omitted. 



This report shows that the total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 and Manchester, up to May 2!>, 1915, were 108 and 

 1,819 bales, respectively. 



UTILIZING COTTON STALKS. 



At Greenwood, Miss. (U.S.A.), a pulp mill with a 

 -capacity"!' oil tons dailj is being erected to manufacture 

 pulp for paper-making from cotton stalks, a hitherto unused 

 by-product of the cotton fields. " 



This industry is of vast economic value to the cotton- 



gTOWing sections of America, as well as of great value to the 

 paper-making trades at this time of increasing scarcity in 

 pulp making materials the world over. 



The COttOn- plant is a well-known annual plant, the 



stalks of which, after producing its crop oi cotton, have bei n 

 destroyed by the farmer in preparing his ground for the 

 succeeding Crop. A conservative estimate oi the annual 



supply of cotton stalks in the cotton-growing sections of the 

 United States i- abpul 75,0,00,000 tons. H but 25 per cent. 

 of this can l>e utilized, it will aggregate an approximate pro- 

 duction of 6,000,000 tons of piper annually, worth more 

 than .£10 per ton. As there appears to be an inexhaustible 

 suppl) of cotton stalks that are useless for anyother purpose, 

 it ensure- a 'raw material cost' of little variation from year 

 t., year. Usually about 10,000 cotton plants are grown on 

 an acre of ground. In the Yazoo Delta section the growth 



of the cotton plant is large, often attaining a height of 8 feet, 

 In teet. and 1 1' feet; ^he stalks of which in a dry condition 



weigh from jj lh. t" •"• lli. i m b 



The best cellulose for durable papers will be obtained 



from the fibre nl tin .cotton plant. This particular fibre is 



a thin walled tube which collapses in a peculiar twisted 

 manner in the beating process, interlaces in the felting proi 

 much better than any other fibre, ami holds its grasp tena 

 ciously. It is strong, flexible and durable, oi light weight, and 

 with double the tensile strength "i stock used in ordinary 

 wrapping paper. 



Paper made from cotton-plant fibre, when nitrated, 

 becomes an efficient ami convenient form of smokeless powder. 



Chemical works will also he etc, ted at Greenwood in 

 which to conserve and tefine the by products produced, which 

 will he of much value in art- and manufactures. 



Large quantities of old cotton -talks are being delivered 

 at the mill site, the COS) delivered being about 1 2». 6(2., or 

 S.'i U.S. currency, per ton. The daily consumption of stalks 

 will lie loii -hoit ton-, which will produce 50 tons of valuable 

 pulp. 



The mill lmated on the Southern Railway at < Ireenw I, 



Miss., is the first commercial pulpmill of its kind ever erected, 

 and the industry has promises of surpassing the present 

 importance of the cotton oil industry in America. 



The process and detail- for manufacturing pulp and 

 paper from cotton -talks were worked out, and the value oi 

 the product demonstrated in an experimental plant at 

 Philadelphia, Penn., with the result that it was decided to 

 construct a commercial and permanent plant at Greenwood, 

 Miss., U.S.A. {Journal "i t/i> Royal Society of Attn, 

 May 7, 1915.) 



Botanical Notes. - An interesting abstract appears 

 in the Journal of the K<-yal Horticultural Society for April 

 ! '.I I 5, dealing with the P.otanic Gardens at Rio de Janeiro. It 

 is slated that great improvements have been effected at Rio 

 during the short time thai Dr. \\ illi- I formerly of Ceylon) 

 Ims been in office a- Director. Quite apart from artificial 



improvements, the garden- at Rio are naturally s e of the 



in the world. Adjoii ing i- a forest -lope which has 



been taken oxer by the Brazilian Government for the cultiva- 

 tion "i useful tree,-, but the work of clearing is rendered 



difficult owing to the rapidity with which the jungle growth 

 develops. The extraordinary richness of the flora in and 

 around bio is shown by the fact that no fewei than 11,1)111) 

 species ate known from the federal area in which the city is 



situated. Though forest trees predominate in the gardens 

 themselves, there are ..pen -pace- when- European and ti op al 

 flowers flourish bedded side by -i.le a- In an English park: 



but the great features are the palm avenues, tile bambini 



plantations, tine groups of Ravenalia madagatcariensis, very 

 tine collections of Cycads and Conifers, and many others 



including tropical aquatics. 



A second note on climbing bamboo-, in the same journal, 

 give- -nine interesting field observations on Arthrostylidium 



and other climbing bam! I Porto Rico A. snrmnitosum 



i- described as 8 \<t\ graceful and delicate!} beautiful species, 

 and is found hanging from the long limbs of the trees. It 

 was ob-erve.l to be in full flower on December '_', 1913. 



Another species, A. multitpicatum, has the -lender, naked, 

 growing ends of the culm- beset with short, sharp prickles. 

 These long grappling branches -wing in the breeze like a whip 

 lash until they strike ahold. These branches are freely 



produced and form an entangled nia-- that is said to draw 

 blood at ever) step of one- progre-- through it. 





