246 



THE AGRICULTURAL MAYS. 



July 31, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



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

 Sea [sland cotton in the Southern Stun-, for the week 

 ended Julj 3, is as follows: 



During the month of .Tun.' the market has remained 

 very quiel with only a limited demand. A few Planters' 

 crops have been sold, also a lot of 120 bales repacked cotton 

 reclaimed from a fire last spring. The buying was on ace >um 

 of the Northern mills. 



The unsold stock consists entirely "l Planters' crops, 

 which are firmly held at 25c. to 30c, for which there is little 

 demand. 



This report shows thai bhe total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from bhe United States to Liverpool and 

 Manchester, up to July 3, 1915, were 103 and I 819 

 Laics, respectively. 



The Hoard of Trade Journal gives the following 

 statistic* on cotton imports and exports under dates -lane 17 

 and 2L respectively: — 



The number of bales of cotton imported into the United 

 Kingdom during the weekended June 10, 1915, was 116,255 

 (including 71 bales British West Indian, 6 bales British West 

 African), and the number imported during the twenty-three 

 weeks ended .lane 10, 1915, was .">.lb.",.] 10 (including 2,128 

 bales British West Indian. 198 bales British West African, 

 8,301 bales l'.ritisli East African, and 135 bales foreign East 

 African). The number of bales exported during the week 

 ended June 10, 1915, was 15,754, and during the twenty- 

 three weeks :; 1 1 379. 



The number of bales of ("Hon imported into the United 

 Kingdom duringthe week ended June 17. 1915, was 105,173 

 (including 3,199 bales British bast African and 1*7 bales 

 foreign East African) and the number imported during the 

 twenty-four weeks ended .June 17, L915, was 3,568,313 

 (including 2,128 bales British West Indian. 198 bales British 

 West African, 11,500 bales British East African, and 922 

 bales foreign Ea I African), The number of bales exported 

 during the week ended June 17. 1915, wis 7,924, and 

 during the twentj four weeks 352,303 



WILD RUBBER AND SELECTION. 



Dr. Cramer of Buitenzorg, in a paper under this title,* 



gives some useful hints to growers on the selection of Hevea. 



•International Rubber-Congress Met Tent on Stellinj 

 Batavia, 1914, Rubber recusil. 



This subject, he points out, has been neglected, or at any 

 rate undertaken on wrong lines Thi selection ol Hevea 

 should commence with the seed-b ind not be entirely 



confined I i the seeds or the seedlings. According to the 

 author's personal observations ol both wild and cultivated 

 trees, considerable variation occurs in the shape and size of 

 the seeds from different examples, and also in the 

 productiveness ol /vil.l trees, among which 'barren 1 

 individuals-, are sometimes >,, ,i. Dr. Cramei gives 

 reproduci mi is I ph itographs ol a ries of seeds from trees of 

 //. b aft i'i - growing in the same localities in Brazil, 

 which >how striking variation in size. The impossibility ol 

 determining critical species from seeds alone is evident from 

 the author's remark that 'the difference in [seed] characters 

 in Ihveu liundiana aclosel] i ies\ and 11. br-mliensis 



is less marked than ma\ occui betu en the seeds of two 

 I rees ol true branlii mil. 



The wild trees observed by ]»:-. Cramer were all 

 from the hover reaches ol Braz ian rivers, which often 

 overflow their banks at high tide, ind he suggests an 

 interesting explanation of the cat >e ol marked differen es 

 which are shown in adjacent trees in such localities. 



Frequently seeds may 1 bserved floating down the rivers 



from the upper reaches, and thesi become stranded in q 

 corners of the banks, "where thej onn a layer on the water. 

 At high tide they are immediab rred to a consider- 



able distance on the adjoining banks, where they germinate. 

 Therefore many of the trees now growing in the lowi 

 reaches of Brazilian rivers are really the direct offspring of 

 upper region types, and thus a mixture ol the two races has 

 been brought about. 



Part 5 of the paper deals with cxperi uient s oi i seedlings, 

 and tables and photographs are g ven showing their relative 



variation from different -stocks. 



In part 6, Dr. ( 'ramer points out that, tccording to the 

 late Dr. Iluber. the Tapajoz region of Brazil where Wickham 

 obtained his seeds, is not the p from which the best 



rubber is at present obtained, and as nearlj the whole of the 

 East India plantations have been tocked from seeds g itkercd 

 in this region, it is therefore assumed that the quality ol 



rubber is not so good as it might have I n had the first 



seeds been gathered in the Acre district ol the up-river 

 regions, i.e., on the Reni and other tributaries of the Upper 

 Madeira and Purus rivers, where the best rubber is at 

 present obtained. There is. how indication that this 



rubber is superior to that which used formeily to !»■ collected 

 in the Tapajoz region 



The question is discussed as to whether this Acn or 

 up-river Hevea may be a distinct \ariety or sub-species of 

 //. brnritier-si*, as is the peneral beliel in Brazil, and 



Dr. ( 'ramer is himself inclined to this opinion. 



It should be noted that Dr. Cramer's work on II, 



selection so far concerns the charactei ol the s Ilings only, 



audit remains to be seen whethei the young plants showing 



the most vigorous growth will prove to give tin' greatest yield 



of 1 itex 



Dr. I i. - interesting cont ibution concludes with 



notes on the practical important ol i ireful choice ol the best 

 producing varieties of othei agricultural crops, citing as 

 examples the advantages winch have accrued from the intro 

 duction o| Cinch na Ledyerian-i, with a bark richer in 

 quinine than the older V. officinalis; the replacement by 

 As-. on instead of the old China tea, and the revival ol the 

 coffee cultivation in .lava by the advent ol Coffearobutla. 

 (Kew Bulletin, No. I. L91 



