278 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



SEi'TEMnEi; 4, 1909'. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 ■write as follows, under date August 16, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



A small business has been done in West Indian Sea 

 Island cotton .since our last report, and prices are firm. 



The sales comprise a few St. Vincent at \6d., and odd 

 lots from other islands at \0d. to 13i. 



The roport of Messrs. Henry \V. Frost & Co. on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending August 7, is as follows : — 



The sales consisted of the Jos. T. Dill crop of 30 bales, 

 sold for France on private terms, and being delivered from 

 plantation, they composed the receipts. 



The usual stock consists entirely of planters' crop lots 

 held here or on plantation, aggregating now 427 bales. 

 Factors are refusing to sell any of them under 35c., being 

 held under instructions from the owners for this price. 



Thus the position in this nmrket still remains 

 virtually unchanged. 



THE BRITISH COTTON GROWING 



ASSOCIATION. 



The fourth Annual liejiort of the ISritish Cotton Grow- 

 ing Association .states that the serious drought which occurred 

 throughout the whole of West Africa in 1907 was the first 

 imi'ortant check which has yet been experienced by it. This, 

 however, was not serious,- as such droughts, though not 

 unprecedented, are of rare eccurrence, as over thirty years 

 have elapso'd since the last failure of rains. Another set-back 

 had been the depression in trade, following the financial crisis 

 in the United States ; this, and the one arising from the dis- 

 pute in the Lancashire Cotton Indu.stry, had had a .serious ef- 

 fect on the transactions of the Association during 1908. The 

 last untoward circumstances may check the develcipnicnt of 

 new cotton fields. There were, however, distinct signs of 

 inii)rovemcnt in trade, and it was to be hopc<l that, consc- 

 (juently, the demand for cotton may improve. 



Keferencc is made to the Conference held in -Tuly, 

 in Manchester and Liveriiool with representatives of the 

 West Indian cotton-growing industry, and it is stated that 

 juost valuable results are expected from that meeting. 



The work of the Association has greatly increased, 

 chiefly in connexion with the giving of engineering advice, 

 the supply of baling materials and other stores, and the 



insurance of cotton and seed. In order to increase the- 

 efficiency of the first, a competent engineer has been added 

 to the Head Office Staff, and now expert advice can be given 

 to planters and others when machinery is being ordered, and 

 plans and detailed estimates can be drawn up for them. The 

 exceptional buying powers of the Association enable it tc^ 

 .supply planters with stores on the lowest terms. The 

 insurance of cotton and .seed is effected at moderate rates, and 

 policies are granted whereby cotton is covered against all 

 risks, fire and marine, from the time that it reaches the 

 planter's store until it is delivered at the warehouse iu 

 Liverpool. 



Important experiments have been carried out by the 

 Association in order to determine the efficiency of cotton 

 seed for producing gas for gas engines, and two experimental 

 plants have been despatched, one to Lagos, and the other to 

 ilombasa. If the trials indicate that success will be obtained 

 along these lines, the results will be most important, especially 

 in regard to such places as Xorthern Nigeria, Uganda, the 

 Sudan, and Nyassaland, where the price of coal is very high 

 and the seed is at present of little value, as the latter will 

 be the most economical fuel for i)roviding power for almost 

 every purpose except that of transport. 



Other intere'sts which are immediately before the As.so- 

 ciation are the prbvision of trained agricultural experts with 

 a knowledge of cotton and other tropical products, the 

 suggestion to establish agricultttral scholarships in connexion 

 with the cotton-growing industry, and the proiiosal for the 

 formation of a ]^>ureau for Troi)ical Agriculture for the collec- 

 tion and collation of information and the direction of agri- 

 culture in the British tropical possessions. 



GARAVONICA COTTON IN MEXICO. 



From time to time, mention has been made in the 

 Aijricultaral JVeivs of this kind of cotton. It has not 

 shown itself, so far, suitable to West Indian conditions, 

 and the lint, though longer in staple than that of 

 Upland, has been pronounced to be far inferior to that 

 of Sea Island cotton (See Agricultural A^ews, Vol. VI, 

 p. 5.5). The following facts in connexion with trials 

 wfich have l)een made with it in Mexico are taken 

 from the Ignited States Mmllil n Cirnsnhir and Tiadr^ 

 iiepo/'^, July 1909:— 



Much has been written in the last few years in regard 

 to the raising of Caravonica cotton in /Vustralia and Mexico. 

 As yet, everything has been in the nature of experiments, and 

 Caravonica cotton has not reached the connnercial stage, but 

 iu the limited sections in which it can be grown, there seems 

 to be a prospect of good profits from its cultivation. 



