THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 3, 1914. 



COTTON. 



EXPORTS OF WEST INDIAN COTTON, 1913. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 ■write as follows, under date December I-'), with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton: — 



Since our last report about 230 bales of West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton have been sold; half of these are Stains 

 Hidd. to 8 85rf,, and the remainder are composed of 

 Barbados Old Crop, \7d. to \8(l., Nevis New Crop, IM. to 

 21rf, St. Kitts New Crop \7i'i. to 20d , with a few superfine 

 ^jags -l-id. to 22^(/. 



The chief demand is for fineness of staple, thus confirm- 

 ing the advice which we some time ago gave to planters to 

 breed for fineness. All the coarser varieties have to come 

 into competition with Carolina Sea Island, of which there is 

 a large crop, and which is selling at prices from lid. to 17c?., 

 and will therefore be more ditticult of sale. 



Planters will be well advised if they ship their cotton in 

 crop lots and not in odd bales per each steamer. Spinners 

 purchasing •') bales or over, take notice of the marks and come 

 for the cotton again, whereas, if they purchase odd bags they 

 expect more irregularity and consequently make lower offers 

 ff'r same. 



The report of Mesors. Henry W. Frost & Co., on 

 fiea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending December 13, is as follows: — 



The demand continues for all ofi'erings of odd bags 

 classing Extra Fine at 26c.. Extra Fine off in colour at 

 23o., and Fine to fully ott at 20c., the buying being 

 for export and the Northern mills. The unsold stock consists 

 very largely of odd bags classed as Fully Fine and Fine, for 

 ■which there is no demand, and which Factors are anxious 

 to sell before the Christmas holidays. With orders in 

 hand for quantity we could probably buy at some con- 

 cession in price. 



The Planters' Crop Lots are being sought after at fairly 

 good prices, the buying being principally for French spinners. 

 Included in the above sales are the following crops: 50 bales 

 Palmetto/AHD at 32., 50 bales E. P. Seabrook at 35c. 

 i50 bales, W. G. Hinson/Seaside at 42c., 70 bales, Elias L 

 Rivers at 50 cents. 



We quote, viz., 



Eitra Fine 2Gc. 

 Fully Fine 23c. to 2? 

 Fine 22c. 



Fully Fine offl 20c. 

 in preparation / " 



This report shows that the total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 Manchester and Havre, up to December 13, 1913, were 

 2,787 bales, 4,151 bales, and 2,174 bales, respectively. 



I.iAc = 



14|d. 

 IHd. 

 12|a'. 



I -Id. 



to 



c.i.f., <& 5 per cent. 

 I'ihd. ,, „ ,, 



According to the Bulletin issued by the Department of 

 Agriculture, Eaypt. on the condition of crops in that country 

 on October 31. 1913, it appears that, in Lower Egypt, the 

 first and second pickings of cotton were completed in all 

 except the outlying northern districts; they are satisfactory 

 and above the average; but the third picking promises to be 

 very bad In Upper Egypt the cotton was all picked at the 

 time the report was issued. 



The following is a statement showing 

 estimated value of Sea Island cotton e: 

 various West Indian Islands during the 

 1912 to September 30, 1913:— 



Weight in pounds. 

 443,878 

 374,594 

 424,392 

 292,182 

 249,433 

 166,477 

 112,138 



59,606 



31,775 



St. Vincent 



St. Kitts 



Barbados 



Montserrat 



Antigua 



Nevis 



Anguilla 



Jamaica 



Virgin Islands 



the quantity and 



xported from the- 



year October 1, 



Estimated value. 

 £35,141 

 23,645 

 23.223 

 18,478 

 15,676 

 10,513 



7,009 



3,571 



2,095 



2,154,475Bb. £139,351 



In addition to the above Sea Island cotton, a quantity 

 of Marie Galante was also exported as follows: 

 400,723 ft)., valued at £11,670; St. Vincent, 

 valued at £2,447. 



Grenada, 

 58,737 lb., 



American Sea Island Cotton.— A report lia» 

 just been received from Messrs. Gordon iV' Co., Savanna, 

 Georgia, on American Sea Island cotton. This contains 

 amongst other information a letter to producers of Sea Island 

 cotton informing them that the Sea Island cotton-growing 

 industry in America is threatened with destruction owing to 

 the competition of long staple cotton grown in Egypt. This 

 refers to SAkellarides. The necessity for careful cultivation 

 and handling so as to reduce as far as possible the amount of 

 waste in each bale of Sea Island cotton is urged, and the 

 importance of keeping to one strain of seed is pointed out. 

 It is observed that in Egypt a large amount of care is 

 exercised in the matter of grading the cotton in the seed 

 before ginning. Where bales arrive at Alexandria uncom- 

 pressed they are opened and reclassified for grade and staple, 

 and then rebaled. The utmost care is given to the selection 

 and staple so that the different lengths are not mixed in the 

 same bale. 



As regards market values, the interesting fact is noted 

 that the average price of Sea Island was lower than that of 

 Egyptian for the first time since 1905, namely, 19'50c. 

 against I9'76c 



The 1913 crop is reported to have attained a generally 

 favourable start. The soil received a good supply of winter 

 moisture but a dry spring somewhat delayed germination. 

 The acreage has been still further reduced by the substitution 

 of Upland for Sea Island cotton, especially where the latter 

 failed to come up. 



The report concludes with the following statement in 

 regard to West Indian supplies: 'The total production in 

 the British West Indies in 1912 is estimated at about 7,000 

 bales of 350 Bj. each, which indicates that this growth has 

 about equalled the Carolina Island's crops, and largely 

 supplies the demand for the Carolinas which were used in 

 former years.' 



The reports as to the growing cotton crop in West Africa 

 continue to be most satisfactory, and Mr. Roper the British 

 Cotton Growing Association's Manager in Southern Nigeria 

 has recently made a tour of inspection of the various provinces 

 in the cotton growing districts of Southern Nigeria, and 

 reports very favourably regarding the prospects for the new- 

 crop There is a considerable increase in the acreage under 

 cotton, and the climatic conditions have been most favourable. 



