Vol. XIII. No. 326. 



THE AGKICULTUilAL NEWS 



.141 



and that it may iiltiniiftely turn out that the teinpoiaiily 

 diminished market for cotton will be in the long run advan- 

 tageous to Montserrat, in tliat it will lead the people to seek 

 to develop and appreciate new agricultural re.sources. He 

 hoped tliat thi.s brief review of agricultural prospects and 

 possibilities might prove of service to those who have these 

 problems to face. 



At a time like this when it is necessary to think of new 

 enterprises, the value of the Local Agricultural Department 

 with its Experiment Station tiecomes increasingly api)arent. 

 Planters of all classes have the opportunity of freely consult- 

 ing Mr. Kol)son. the Curator, who lias nnich available informa- 

 tion ready to hand, and who is in a position to supplement his 

 own knowledge by emiuiries at Headquarters, wliich again 

 can glean information from widely extended .sources. 



At this time, too, it should prove of great service to 

 planters to be able to see at the Botanic and Experiment 

 Stations many of the crops actually growing that are now 

 under discu.ssion, and also to see the various experiments in 

 their cultivation. Unfortunately, in Jlontserrat, as in many 

 other places, planters neglect to visit these Stations as regular- 

 ly and as fre<iuentl3- as they should do. 



It would prove advantageous and stimulating alike tcj 

 the planters and to the Curator if the former were to make 

 a resolution to pay a visit of en(purj- to the Station at lea-st 

 once a month. They would thus realize that there exists 

 much information already availaliie, that much of the work 

 they contemplate undertaking has aheady been done, and that 

 facts are ready stored up for their use and guidance; that in 

 addition to this the stations are provided with plants and 

 seeds ready for starting new developments or can procure 

 these to advantage in a short time; and, in a word, that the 

 experience of the Station may prove a guide to their etlorts 

 and an aid in overcoming their difficulties. 



THE ANTIGUA ONION GROWERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



A report of the sub-Connnittee of this Association, 

 which appears in the Antigua Sun of September '2o, 1914, 

 states that the business of the As.s(Seiation, which is but 

 recenti}' organized, has l)een so successful that the Committee 

 suggest that it ought to be largely extended in order that 

 it may cope with the whole crop of onions grown in the 

 island. This is e.stimated at alxnit 200,000 Tb. 



The proposals are : - 



(1) That onions will lie purchased at not less than 

 Ic. per Bb. cash from growers to whom crates will be 

 supplietl by the .Association for delivery at the Association's 

 premises. There the onions will be graded, cured, and packed, 

 and then exported and marked by the Association. After 

 deducting working expenses, and a commission of 3 per cent., 

 the surplus profit will be distributed pro rata among contribut- 

 ing growers at the end of the season. 



(2) That all meniliers of the Association shall agree to 

 sell their onions to the As.snciation on the above terms, and 

 shall not .ship onions except through the Association; an 

 agreement is to be signe<l by all members to this effect, with 

 a penalty clau.se. 



For the purpose of central premises the Government of 

 Antigua have kindly placed at the di.sppsal of the Association 

 the old cotton factory buildings, rent free, for three years. 



Sufficient funds at the start will have to be provided 

 for fitting up the premises, for the purchase of the onions, 

 for the provision of necessary stores, such as crates, and for 



initial expenses. After going into the requisite details under 

 the.se heads, the Committee came to the conclusion that the 

 amount of capital required for this purpose will be 

 £371 5,». 4c?., which it is proposed to raise, either by subscrip- 

 tion among the members, or by a loan, bearing, they suggest, 

 interest at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum. 



The advantages of this cooperative scheme are obvious: 

 (1) the planter will always receive without delay a price 

 giving him a reasonable margin of profit without' the 

 responsibility and worry attaching to shipment and market- 

 ing; (2) the centralization of the packir.g will ensure a better 

 staTidardization of the onions, and therefore a better reputa- 

 tion; (3) the organization dealing with the whole cro]) of 

 onions will enable orders to be filled with certainty, and 

 therefore, with greater advantage. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



The report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost & Co., oil 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending September 2(5, is as follows: — 



The receipts of the new crop have been only 13 bales, .so 

 far, which have not been sampled or ottered for .sale; con- 

 sequently the market has not opened. It will be a fortnight 

 before the receipts will be large enough to admit of the Factors 

 putting out any cotton for sale. The stock, therefore, is 

 limited to two Planters' crops brought over from last season, 

 and are nominally held at 28c. and 30c. 



During the fortnight endeil Octolier 1, 3 bales of P.ritish 

 West Indian cotton were imported into the United Kingdom. 

 Since last report about 100 bales of West Indian Sea Island 

 cotton have been .sold at I2d. The market is depres.sed. 

 (The West India Committee Circidar, October 6, 1914.) 



WEST INDIAN COTTON IN SIERRA 

 LEONE. 



It was reported last year that the returns from the West 

 Indian cotton experiments in Sierra Leone were very prom- 

 ising. This year, according to the Annual Report of the 

 Agricultural Department, Sierra Leone, for the year 1913, 

 the plants have not grown as well principally owing, it is be- 

 lieved, to the attacks of the red rust fuugus. Samples of 

 seed had been procured from those plants which have 

 survived and will be sown next year. By this means it is 

 hoped that it will be possible to obtain an acclimatized type 

 of West Indian cotton. 



In Appendix 1 to the report under consideration, the 

 Imperial Institute's report on last years Sea Island cott(5n is 

 published. The lint is described as clean, soft, fine, lustrous, 

 and of jjale creani colour with some yellow oi- brown stains. 

 The yield of lint on ginning was 30'8 per cent. The yield of 

 lint per 100 seeds was 3-96 grammes. The seeds were of 

 medium size and either without fuzz or with very little white 

 or greenish fuzz of medium length. The strength was 

 ii-regular, but, on the whole fair, though a considerable pro- 

 portion of weak, immatured fibre was present. The length 

 of the fibres was rather irregular, varying from 1"4 t<5 

 2-1 inches, mostly from U7 to 1-9 inches. The sample was 

 valued from 16rf. to lid. per ft), ginned, with fine and 

 extra fine Sea Island cotton at I6d. and I9d. per lb. res- 

 pectively. The cotton was remarked upon as being of 

 excellent (piality, and it was believed that it woidd have been 

 even more valuable if less weak undeveloped filires had been 

 present. 



