May 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 385 



has evaporated. After it is all picked there is no further process for the 

 grower in this State. It merely requires drying in the sun until the seed 

 will crack brittle between the teeth, then bale the same as wool, and cart 

 to the railway station, where it can be sold in its raw state. The actual 

 picking is certainly rather tedious work, but it is not so back-aching as picking 

 strawberries or green peas, of which acres are annually grown and picked by 

 white labour. The writer at a first attempt picked 54 lb. of cotton in half 

 a day (four hours), and with practice it should be easy to pick 150 lb. per day 

 from a good crop. The usual rate paid for picking is id. per lb., and as 

 children can pick as much as a man, the grower with the biggest family has 

 the advantage during the picking season. 



There is, however, every possibility of a cotton-picking machine soon becom- 

 ing an accomplished fact, which will considerably increase the profits of 

 cotton growing. According to the Scientific American, Mr. G. A. Lowry has 

 constructed a machine which is reported to have stood a severe test in the 

 field. The machine is provided with nicely balanced mechanical arms moving 

 on a universal joint which is worked by pneumatic power similar to sheep- 

 shearing machines, and even in its present state picks considerably more 

 cotton than a number of hand pickers. 



A machine that can exercise discrimination in picking ripe cotton bolls 

 and not leaves, may seem rather too much to expect, but when we compare 

 the apparently complicated reaper and binder or harvester with the methods 

 of grain harvesting only a generation back, we may reasonably hope for 

 similar improvements in cotton picking machinery. 



The average yield per acre of the upland types might be estimated at 

 10 cwt. of raw cotton, or lint and seed, which is worth about 2d. per lb. 

 before ginning. There are no ginning mills in this State, the nearest being 

 at Ipswich, in Queensland, or Messrs. Kitchen and Sons, Brisbane. This 

 firm are also ready buyers of raw cotton delivered to any railway station, 

 and also distribute seeds of approved varieties for next year's sowing. The 

 seed can be obtained in small quantities from Sydney seedmen, whilst the 

 Department of Agriculture distribute small cjuantities of different varieties 

 to approved settlers, who will undertake to forward reports on the results. 

 WTien picking, each variety should be kept separate and labelled, and future 

 plantings should consist of the kind proved best for the locality. The plants 

 are generally treated as annuals, but where seed is scarce, land plentiful, 

 and frosts not too severe, the plants may be preserved for the next season. 

 They are best pruned back to about 9 inches to 1 foot, and then covered or 

 hilled up with the plough, until spring. When not required for next year 

 the stock can be turned into the paddock to clear up twigs and stubble. As 

 grown in this State cotton has not been subject to many parasitic fungous 

 or insect pests. The ordinary cotton boll worm, which is a serious pest in 

 America, is not plentiful here, but when it appears can be checked by dusting 

 or spraying the plants with Paris green and lime. 



