Vol. XIII. No. 322. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



27.) 



iiitistfil iiiateiial is fumigated or (It-stroywl: and what 

 thr < iovernmentts of other countries should takt- to 

 heart, this inspection is done bv competent entomolo- 

 gists and mycologists and not by untrained customs 

 ottii-inls. 



Turning our att.'Ution from the United States to 

 U(\ I' .n «r timl that in this colony, the conditions (jf which 

 arc moll- comparable with those ol)taining in the West 

 Indies, there is a system of legislation which is in its own 

 way exemplary. The external part dials of courso with 

 the (juestion ot i|uaiantuio and is more or less straight- 

 foiuard in its application. The internal legislation, 

 howover, requires tlir its execution — as in every country 

 — till- em])loymi-iit of much t;ict and determination, 

 for it is only natural that the incon\ eiiience occasioned 

 liy plant ordinances is R-lt un<-<jually by the ditfereiit 

 planters who are art'ecti'd l>y it. The objection to 

 government intorference has been minimized in Ceylon 

 }>y the maintenance of a close a.s.sociation between the 

 plantei-s and the Plant Pe.sts Board on which the l<x:al 

 estate owners ai-e represented. The phinter, as it were, 

 is encouraged and given the power to become his own 

 legislating biologist. 



The biggest move in the direction of plant legisla- 

 tion has been the recent International Phytopathologi- 

 cal Conference at which tin sigiiat<iry states have 

 nndertaken to aflmit only plants accompanied by 

 pliytopalhological certificates. The .schedide of diseases 

 is to be confined to those which are epidemic in 

 character and is not to inchule those which are wideh 

 distributed. The efficiency of the .system is open to 

 criticism. Experience in .some places has been that 

 the reliability of certificates depends a good deal upon 

 tho.sc who issue them, and it is to be feared that an 

 International Phytopathi (logical Convention will have 

 to be accompanied by an international service of com- 

 petent biologists if it is to gixe satisfactory results. 

 Moreover provisions of legislation which apply to 

 temperate countries may not hold good for tropical 

 ones, and this view .seems to ha\e been held b\' dele- 

 gates at the recent International Congress of Tropical 

 Agriculture held in Londi>n last month, where it was 

 decided that a special committer should be appointed 

 to consider how far the international conference regula- 

 tions are suited t(> the requirements existing in the 

 Tropics. 



This article will be contimicd in the ne.xt is.sue of 

 the Agricultural News in connexion with legislatory 

 protection of domesticated animals and public health 

 on j)lantations and estates. 



COTTON. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messi-s. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date August 10, 1!)14, with refer- 

 ence to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton: — 



.VI" put 15(1 l,ales of VW'st IiidiHii Sea. Island cotton have- 

 lieeii sold since our last re|)ort, including Barbados \ld. to- 

 \><\d., a few superfine 8t. Vincent 26d. to 28f/., .Jamaica, 

 Moiitseirat, and St. Lucia at lid. and Stains at '},d. to SJrf. 



Owini; to the war, no liusincss is [jassing in Sea Island 

 cotton. 



\\ e an- atraid that as a conseiiuence of the war, prices of 

 •Sea Island cottf)n will rule low next season, as not only is 

 Sea Island yarn used very largely in France and Belgium, 

 l>ut the ilenianil for lace and other sncli luxuries will be much 

 curtailed. 



The report of ilessrs. Henry W. Frost iSiT Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending August 1, is as follows: — 



Since our circular ot .Iiulc 27 the .sales have been 

 11 l)ales leaving a .stock ot 41 bales composed of 39 bales 

 Reliance and 2 bales Little Bobs, crops. The remainder of 

 the Little Bobs crop is held on plantation. 



We have had to add 9 ImIcs to the island stock for 

 corrections. 



This report shows that the total export of Sea 

 Island cotton from the United States to Liverpool, 

 Manchester and Havre, up to August 1, I9I4, were 

 4,:«tl y)ales, 6,>S08 bales, and 4,091 bales, respectively^. 



ExpoiiTs OK West Inui.\s Se.'V Isl.^nd Cotton 

 F(u; THK March Quautek, 1914. 

 Colony. Hales. lb. Value. 



Barbados 302 148,299 £ 8,651 



1,10(1 



374,947 



£26,632 



Besides the al>((\'e quantity, there was exported fioni 

 Grenada l,015i bales containing 304,282 tt). and froni 

 St. Vincent 116 bales containing 44,442 ft>. Marie Galante 

 cotton valued respectively =£8,875 and £1,852. 



