102 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 28, 1914 



COTTON. 



Bassa Provinces of Northern Nigeria are, however, exceed- 

 ingly good, and these districts will, it is anticipated, make 

 up for any decrease which may be experienced elsewhere. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolsueuholme and Holland, of Liv 

 write as follows, under date March 10, with re 

 to the sales oi" West Indian Sea Island cotton 



•ol, 

 lice 



Since our last report about 260 bales of West Indian 

 Sea Island cotton have been sold; these include St. Kii < ■ I9rf. 

 to 20(i., Nevis 16|-d. to 21'?., Montserrat \6d. i. Ud. 

 Barbados, 19d. to 20d., and Antigua, ISJcf. to 21<f. 



These sales have been confined to the higher inices. 

 Extra Fine being in good demand, whereas the <• ^irser 

 varieties are very unsaleable, particularly anything belo" 1 Id., 

 owing to the competition of the finer Egyptians. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending March 7, is as follows: — 



There was some demand this week resulting in sales of 

 167 bales. With these 167 bales and two crop lots sold but 

 not yet shipped, there are about 250 bales awaiting shipment. 

 and when included in the exports will leave a stock ot a'-out 

 450 bales, of which about 200 bales class Fine to Fully Fine, 

 the reminder being crop lots held at 30c. and upwards 



We quote, viz: — 



Extra Fine 

 Fully Fine 

 Fine 



26c. 

 24c. 

 23c. 



= 14|d 

 = 13fd. 

 = 13irf. 



c.i.f., it 5 per cent. 



This report shows that the total exports of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 Manchester and Havre, up to March 7, 1914, were 

 3,328 bales, 6,435 bales, and 4,02fi bales, respectively. 



WEST AFRICAN COTTON. 



The British Cotton Growing Association states that the 

 most recent reports from Lagos indicate that, whilst there is 

 a larger acreage under cotton than last year, the crop seems 

 to have sufi'ered a set back in some districts through severe 

 harmattan winds, but it is still considered probable that the 

 crop will show an increase over last year. The purchase.s of 

 cotton in Lagos to the end of February were 2,480 hales, as 

 compared with 3,016 bales for the same period of last year 

 and 2,072 bales for 1912. 



In Northern Nigeria large quantities of cotton have been 

 'grown in the Zaria District, but the demand for the native 

 manufacturing industry is considerable, and it is estimated 

 that 40 to 50 bales per day are being purchased for trans- 

 port to Kano for the local spinning and weaving industry. 

 It is a well-known fact that for centuries past a large local 

 manufacturing industry has been established in Northern 

 Nigeria, but there is reason to believe that as the railway 

 advances and the country is opened up to trade, imported 

 goods will replace those which are now being made in such 

 urimitive fashion locally. The prcspects in the Lokoja and 



It is reported in the South Wa/es Daili/ News (Febru- 

 ary 21, 1914) that the cotton cultivation experiments 

 recently made in Sierra Leone have given satisfactory 

 results. Two varieties were tried: West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton and Cambodia from Southern India. It is stated 

 that the Sea Island cotton has grown well, but before this 

 can be accepted as true, reference should be made to the 

 official publications of the department. It is pointed out 

 that the Director of Agriculture is of opinion that the 

 possibilities of cotton growing in Sierra Leone will be 

 greatly enhanced by a more general practice of early 

 sowing. 



LIVE STOCK NOTES, 



THE TICK PROBLEM IN NEW SOUTH 

 WALES. 



The object of the work against the cattle tick is to 

 eradicate it from New South Wales, or, failing that, to 

 confine it to its present areas, and to prevent the introduc- 

 tion of tick fever into the State. The tick concerned is 

 Boophilus (Margaropu.«) australis. Its natural hosts are 

 cattle, on which it thrives best, but it also attaches itself to 

 horses, sheep and other animals. The life-history of the tick 

 is given in a pamphlet published by the Chief Inspector of 

 Stock. The eggs are extremely resistant to cold; they are 

 laid on the ground in summer or winter. The larval ticks 

 attach themselves to blades of grass and lie in wait for pass- 

 ing cattle. Having gained its host, in a week the larva casts 

 its skin and emerges as an eight legged nymph; a week later 

 it moults again and emerges as a sexually mature adult. 



The result of tick-bites upon the animal is what is 

 known as tick worr}-, which must be distinguished from tick 

 fever, the former being due to the mechanical irritation 

 caused by the ticks, and to loss of blood. Tick fever is 

 caused by minute parasites, Piroplasma higeminum, which 

 destroy the red blood corpuscles. They are taken up by the 

 tick when it sucks blood, and when the egg laid by such 

 a tick hatches out, the tick arising from it is capable of 

 transmitting the parasite to any cattle to which it may fix 

 itself. 



The methods which have been used to combat the tick 

 consist of dipping and spraying with arsenical dips. Regard- 

 ing the risk of dipping cattle in such poisonous dips, it is 

 stated that fatalities amongst stock dipped in properly 

 prepared solutions, under good management, seldom exceed 

 1 in 1,000. Cattle may be safely dipped in or sprayed with 

 an arsenical dip containing an equivalent of 0-24 per cent, 

 arsenic trioxide or less; this is according to experiments made 

 in America. Inoculation against tick fever is not at present 

 practised in New South Wales, as the disease is unknown 

 there. 



Figures are given to show the cost of combating the 

 tick in New South Wales. It is stated that £20 000 is spent 

 annually on the erection of dips, establishment of salting 

 stations, appointment of inspectors, maintaining dips, etc. 

 {The Review of Applied Entomology [Veterinary] Vol. I, Ser. 

 B. Part 12.) ' 



