294 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 18, 1909, 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date August 80, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Since our last report only a small business has been 

 passing in West Indian Sea Island cotton and prices continue 

 firm. 



The sales consist principally of stains, 6'jj. to S^i/. with 

 a few bales of Barbados about li\d. 



Latest accounts from America state the Sea Island crop 

 is making satisfactory progress and there is every prospect 

 of a good yield. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending August 21, is as follows : — 



There have been no receipts or sales for the past fort- 

 night, consequently no change in the market. 



The unsold stock of 427 bales, composed entirely of 

 planters' crop lots held here and on plantations, is .still being 

 held under in>tructiiins from the owners at Soc. 



COTTON EXPORTS FROM THE WEST 

 INDIES. 



The amounts of cotton e,\ported from the British 

 Islands of the Lesser Antilles during the quarter end- 

 ing June 30, 1009, were as follows : — 



Total 2,40k-; 782,182(34,599 1 8) 



All this cotton was .sent to the United Kingdcmi, with 

 the exception of 20 bales (10,078 lb.) of an estimated value 

 of £503 18.S, which was- shipped from Barbados to the 

 United States. The cotton o.\[i(irted was Sea Island in all 

 cases save the following (whi(-li are included in the figures 



given in the above table) : S27ij bales (248,455 lb.) Marie 

 Galante from Grenada: 19 bales (4,000 lb.) ^larie Galante 

 from Trinidad and Tobago ; 47 bales (10,484 lb.) Native 

 from the Virgin Islands. A certain amount of cotton, not 

 included in the above table, was also sent from St. Lucia. 



COTTON SEED IN THE UNITED STATES. 



In 1907, there v.-as produced in the United States 

 5,912,646 tons of cotton seed, of which 3,943,981 tons was 

 crushed. The amounts of oil and meal that were obtained 

 from this crushed seed were 175,724,840 gallons and 

 1,7S5,804 tons, respectively. The quantity of oil that -n'as 

 exported was 40,8S0,304 gallons, the remainder being used 

 for home consumption. Sinularly, 670,484 tons of cotton 

 seed meal and cake were shipped, chietl)- to Europe, Denmark 

 taking 277,124 tons, Germany 224,064 tons, and Great 

 Britain 90,539 tons. The amounts taken by Denmark and 

 Germany are rapidly increasing, -while that consumed by 

 Great Britain shows a considerable falling off, the reason for 

 the latter circumstance being that this country is obtaining 

 greater quantities every year from Egypt and other countries. 

 In Denmark, these products are chiefly used in the dairy 

 industrj-, while in Germany and England they are employed 

 both as food and for manurial purposes. 



It has been found that draft horses will do well on 

 a ration which includes 2 lb. of cotton seed meal. Over 

 half a million cattle, as well as large numbers of sheep, are 

 fattened every year at the oil factories of the Southern 

 States. The method employed is to make the ration for 

 rattle include, at first, 3 or 4 lb. of the meal, which is gradu- 

 ally increased to 6 or 8 lb, or even 10 lb. per head, the length 

 of the feeding period being from 90 to 120 days. It is lound 

 that the fat of such animals has a higher melting point than 

 that obtained from tho.se fed on corn. Trials made at many 

 of the experiment stations show that the inclusion of cotton 

 seed meal in the food of dairy cows increases the How of 

 milk, the most satisfactory amounts being 5 or 6 lb. daily for 

 short, and 3 fir 4 Iti. daily for long, periods. The effect on 

 the butter produced from the milk of animals fed in this 

 way is to raise the melting-point and to lighten the colour, 

 while excessive amounts of the meal in the ration give i\ 

 flutter fif poor flavour and low value. 



Cotton seed hulls were formerly used entirely for fuel 

 at the factories. They have now, however, been recognized 

 as a useful adjunct to the ordinary cattle food, especially in 

 the neighbourhood of the factories. As is well known, the 

 feeding of the seed to calves and pigs generally brings about 

 a fatal result if persisted in. In such cases it has been found 

 that, althongh the oil pressed from the seed has no poisonous 

 properties, the seed has caused intense inflammation to arise- 

 in the digestive tiact. 



