198 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 26, 1909. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme & Holiaiid of Liverpool, 

 writing under date of June 7 last, report as follows on 

 the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Holidays in the spinning districts have rather interfered 

 with business in all classes of cotton dnring the last fortnight. 

 The sales of West Indian Sea Island during ihat period 

 amount to about 260 bales, of which about lialf were stains 

 at 5hd. to 8rf. The balance consists of St. Kitt's 12irf. to 

 14A(/., Nevis 14'/., Barbados Hid. to lijd., Antigua 13rf., 

 Montserrat 1.3rf. to \Shd., St. Martin 13Arf. to 14rf , and 

 St. Vincent lid. to 20d. Prrices still remain firm. 



COTTON CULTIVATION IN THE 

 SEA ISLANDS. 



The Director of Agriculture of the Nyasaland 

 Protectorate (.Mr. J. Stewart McCall) sometime ago 

 paid a visit to the Uiiited States, in order to study the 

 methods of cotton c(dtivation practised in that country, 

 and the inform.-ition gathered as the result of his visit 

 is published in a small bulletin (No. 1 of 1909) recently 

 issued by the Nyasaland Agricultural Department. 

 The following notes are an abstract of the section of 

 the pamphlet which deals with the cultivation of fine 

 staple cotton in the Sea Islands : — 



The amount of Sea Island cotton grown in the United 

 States forms less than 1 per cent, of the whole American 

 cotton crop, but it is of great importanc-e owing to its high 

 ipiality. ft is grown to the highest perfection on James and 

 Edistiiw Islands, which lie to the west and south-west of 

 "Charleston, in the State of South Carolina. 



Sea Island cotton is most sensitive in regard to changes 

 of soil and climate. It does best on light sand and gravel 

 alluvia, not too rich in humus, with free drainage, and 

 a fairly humid atmosphere. 



On the best plantations in the Sea Islands, about 7-5 per 

 cent, of the whole area is known as 'cotton land, ' and the 

 •other 25 per cent, is devoted to. the growth of truck crop.'!. 



Cotton is not grown continuously on the same land, 

 however, but only in alternate years. Land which lias borne 

 »;otton in one year is either planted with some leguminous 

 crop, such as cowpeas or velvet beans, in the following 

 season, or simjily left un|)lnughed. When green crops are 

 .grown they are fed to animals on the land. 



Tlie cotton is planted in Jlardi and April, at distances 

 •of 22 inches from plant to plant, and b feet from row to row. 

 About the end of August tlie first pickings begin, and the 

 harvest continues until December. 



:Much of the finest cotton grown in the Sea Islands never 

 enters the open mai-ket at all, lieing sold privately to French 

 lace manufacturers at a high price. 



The cotton grown on the Islands is nuich superior to the 

 Sea Island cotton produced on the mainland. Tlie inferiority 

 of tlie latter, which con.sists in shorter .sta[)le and lack of 

 lustre, is partly due to the large amount of hybridizati'm 

 which takes [dace with the Upland cotton grown in the 

 neighbourhood, and partly to the lack of humidity in the 

 atmosphere. On the mainland the best cotton is said to be 

 produced by a crop raised from island-grown seed. 



Cotton growers in the Sea Islands are firm .believers in 

 seed selection, which they i)racti.se regularly. Jlr. McCall 

 rei)orts that each of the island plantations visited by him 

 had its own breeding and selection plot, and there can be 

 little doubt that the high (piality of the cotton produced is 

 to a large e.\tent the result of prolonged selection. Great 

 intelligence is e.verdised by the island planters in growing 

 and harvesting their cotton. Manuring of the land is 

 frequently commenced as early as November, when if pen 

 manure is available, it is applied at the rate of 20 tons per 

 acre on the surface between the old ridges. Otherw-ise, 

 a dressing of cotton seed, at the rate of about i-ton per acre 

 is given early in February, wlien the first ploughings are 

 made. This seed is covered by splitting the old ridges with 

 the plough, and the great bulk of it undergoes decay. Any 

 seeds which germinate are destroyed by .'■ubsequent plough- 

 ings. It is found that late ajiplications, on a large scale, of 

 slow-acting organic manures interfere with germination of 

 the cotton .seed, and retard the ripening of the crop. 



The tillage operations practised frequently include two 

 or three ploughing.s, of which the first is deep (12 inches 

 when possible). Subsequent ploughings are more .shallow. 

 The first ploughing provides conditions suitable for deep 

 rooting, and enables the [ilants to be drought resistant. The 

 shallow cultivations which follow, result in the production of 

 a fine surface tilth, which is so necessary for germination 

 and rapid early growth during the weak stages before the 

 plant puts on the rough leaf. 



When the land is ready to be ridged up for planting, 

 a manure such as 600 R). of Peruvian guano, and .50 Ih. of 

 I>otassium sul|)hate is applie<l per acre, and after germination 

 .50 lb. of nitrate of stxla is added. 



Cotton grown ^ in the Sea Islands is mark(,'ted in bags, 

 7.^ feet long by 2.1 feet in diameter, containing appro,\imately 

 3.50 lb. of lint. This cotton is not compressed in bales, since 

 many of the (ilanters consider the practice detrimental to the 

 librc. Practically n)l jhe Islands" crop i.s, sold at Charleston, 

 and forms 3.5 jier cent, of the cotton., ma.i'ke,t,e(l at that (lort. 

 Sea Island cotton from the mainland is' 'priiHiipally marketed 

 and shipped from Savannah. 



