390 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 4, 1915. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



The Report of Messrs. Henrj W. Frosl & Co., 

 on Sea 1-1. i ad cotton in the Southern States, for 

 the week ending November 20, is as follows: — 



Islands. Wehavehad a quiet market with somedemand 



foi the selection of th Id bag classing Fully Fine, of which 



the supply is limited, and also for Fine off in preparation. 



The receipts of odd bags continue to consist principally 

 ei Fine, for which there is little demand, but which the 

 Factors most positively refuse to sell below the prices ruling 

 1. 1] fancy I leorgias and Floridas. 



There is a limited demand for Planters' Crop lots, hut 

 at prices below the views of Factors. 



We quote, •■ \/..: 



Extra Fine 28c. }~!,<1. c.i.f. & 5 per cent. 



Fully Kin.' 26c. I6ftf. „ „ „ „ 



Fine 25c. = 16d*. „ „ „ ., 



Floridas and Georgias. There was again a good 

 demand this week taking all the daily offerings on the 

 Savai nah market at our quotations. There was also reported 

 a good demand in the interior, paving equivalent prices. 

 The market both in Savannah and in the interior closed 

 very steady, with Factors refusing to sell except in round 

 lots taking all grades, the demand being chiefly for the lower 

 say, Choice and Extra Choice, which are compara- 

 tively scarce. Factors are refusing to sell unless the Fancy 

 is taken along with them. 



We quote, viz.: 



Fancy 25Jc. = 26|c., landed. 



Extra Choice 2 I \c. 25Jc., „ 



Choice 23|c. = 24ic, ,. 



The- exports from Savannah for the week were, to 

 Northi in Mill- 949 bales, Southeno Mill- 280 bales, and from 

 Jacksonville to Northern Mills .".,011 bale-. 



Mr. W. Lawrence Balls. — The Commissioner 

 ol Agricult ure h is received a letter from Mr.W. Lawrence Halls. 

 M..V. formerly Botanist to the Government of Egypt and well 



known on account of his researches con :ted with the cotton 



plant, t" say th.it he bad recently been appointed on the -till oi 

 the Fine Spinners' and Doublers' Association as a consulting 



ist to conduct investigations, pi in regard to the 



physical properties of lint, Mr. Hall- will be moving from 



ridge to Manchester at the end of thisyear. Although 

 his work will lie mainly in mechanical directions, it is not 

 unlikely that Mi. Hall- will have o o visit the West 



| -i'lii with hi- studies. It will be obvious to 



mi th.' West Indies, and t" all those int. 

 in fine staple cotton, that the position ol the industry is likely 

 to be great!} strengthened through thi Fine Spinners having 

 secured the servi eminent an investigator. 



THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTIES OF 

 RAW COTTON. By W. Lawrence Balls, M.A., late Fellow 

 nl St. John's College,' Cambridge, formerly Botanist to the 

 Chedivial Agricultural Society of Cairo, and to the Egyptian 

 Government Agricultural Department. A.d-C. Black, Ltd., 

 London. Price •">,«. net. 



In a funnel' work entitled, The Cotton Plant in Egypt, 

 Mr. Balls put forward a botanical study of the cut ton plant 

 which attracted wide attention, ii"t Only on the part of 

 tle.se interested in cotton, but also ol botanists and students 

 ol agricultural economics generally; the work wa- felt to be 

 highly suggestive of lines of study which might be found 

 applicable t any important crops. 



In the present work under review, Mr. Balls has 

 addressed himself to a different audience: he writes for those 

 who may be in anyway interested in cotton whether as 

 growers, dealer- or -pinners, and ..tie of his first objects is to 



endeavour to find terms and expressions which shall enable 

 th...-e win. are interested in cotton in these or other ways to 

 understand each other. To the outside world this would 

 seem an easy task, but something of the difficulty maybe 

 realized it it is known' that many of the expressions used in 

 connexion with cotton have connotations far different from 

 their commonly accepted meanings. For instance, when 

 i cotton broker or grader speaks ol 'strength', it is found that 

 the properly he refers to has little connexion with the 

 in. iking -train of the individual fibres; similarly, the 

 broker's reference to 'linen, ss' has little or no relation to the 

 diameters of the cotton fibres; and so on for a number of 

 properties. It is evident, therefore, that those connected 

 with cotton in its several and various aspect- are talking in 

 different languages, ind ire very liable to misunderstand each 

 other. 



Part of the task oi the book is to endeavour, in some 

 degree, to find common terms for observed phenomena, which 



term- may be readily under-! I 



The book, in a succession ol six chapters, deal- with 

 (I) The development of pedigree. ( 1 1 i The d< velopment of the 

 plant. (Ill) The development of the boll (i) Structural. 

 il\i The developmenl of the l"'ll (ii) Environmental 

 influences. (V) The development oi commercial lint; and 

 (VI) Thedevelopineiii.il cotton growing. 



Tin. studies under tin- 1 i irious and comprehensive head- 

 are put forward in a manner which tna\ be perfectly under- 



.-t 1 by nmi botanical readers, though the Style i- precise, 



and no attempt is made to give the mailer what may be 



ternii 1 a p >pular aspect ; the I k i.- written for workers and 



students, and will make forceful appeal to them. 



In these studies Mr. Halls is admittedly under the influ- 

 of the conditions attending the growth ■ ..tton 



plant in Egypt, chief a lg-t which is the uniformity of the 



environment; the progress of the seasons i- uniform a- regards 

 temperature; there is practicallj no rainfall, all the water i- 



deiived from irrigation works, SO there are im perplexing 



