134 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai'EiL i.'-2, 1916. 



COTTON CONFERENCE, 



SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 



lu ihe last i.ssue of the A:/iicu'.tural ^~eHS v.a.s jniblished 

 a summary of the |jroceedings of the tir.^t day of the 

 Conference. The principal subject 'on which statement.s were 

 made, concerned the yield of lint per acre in the different 

 islands. On the second day this matter was discussed in 

 detail with a view to deternuning the causes of the fluctu- 

 ations 



At ilie retiue.--t of the Presiilent, Dr. 11. A. Tenipany 

 dealt with a set of figures which had been compiled, showing 

 the yield of lint i)er acre in the different islands from 190-5-4 

 to 1915-16. Dr Tempany pointed out that tlie highest 

 mean for the tif;een years' |)eriod as a whole was shown by 

 St. Kitts wiih 149 lb. lint per acre, followed by .Montserrat 

 14 4 lb., then by Antigua li'l lb., and Nevis 95 It). Dealing 

 with the individual instances it was [lointed out that the figures 

 tended to indicate that the position in .St. Kitts was, on the 

 whole, the most stable. In Nevis greater fluctuation was shown, 

 whicli was put down to the fact that the larger part of the 

 cotton in this i.sland is grown by peasants. Wherever 

 a peasant industry exi.sts there are bound to be fluctuations. 

 Dr. Tempany called special attention to the year 1910-11 

 during which, throughout the West Indie.s, the highest 

 average returns were oolained. The exact reason for this 

 could not be s'ated, but it w.is thought to be due to the 

 favourable climatic conditions of that year. In relation to 

 fluituation of yield, it was pointed out that the larger the 

 total area cultivated the greater the tendency for a smaller 

 yield owing to the inclusion of unfavourable lauds. Dr. 

 Tempany concluded his remarks with an outline of the 

 fluctuations in Antigua in the area under cultivation and 

 yield per acre, during the past ten years. During this period 

 increased area was not always ass<iciated with decreased j ield. 

 The flower-bud maggot was referred to as a factor that had 

 caused reduction in yield per acre at certain period.s. 



The Hon. J S. llollings (Nevis) questioned the aocurj.cy 

 of the first two or three years of the Nevis records and ex- 

 pressed the opinion that the average yield had been higher, 

 On his own estates during that period large returns had 

 been obtained. The Hon. K L. Warneford (Antigua) 

 pointed out that on his estates in Antigua, the yield during 

 those years had been much greater than the average tabulated 

 on the board before them, but he thought that ci other estates 

 small yields had been obtained which had brought down the 

 average. This had no doubt occurred also in the case of 

 Nevis. In replying to Mr. Hollings' remarks Mr Shepherd 

 (St. Kitts) agreed with Mr. Warneford's explanation. He 

 understood it to be the case that in 'every island there were 

 districts in which cotton was grown that were less suitable 

 than otheis, and these included in the returns, caused the 

 average to go down. Mr. .J. () Maloney (Nevis) thought 

 that the reason why some of the averages were rather low 

 was because the peasants in sending in their returns of 

 cotton per acre put down the fcreage under cultivation at 

 a higher figure than it leally was. This wouhl have the 

 effect of bringing down the aver ige. 



Mr W Uobson (Montserrat) then gave his views on the 

 causes of fluctuation in yields in that island. He attributed 

 it largely to the distribution of nvinfall during the four 

 months from the date of planting; if that was unfavourable, 

 small yields resulted. He was also of opinion that 

 high winds in the early parts of the season had a serious 



effect upon growth. This reference to shelter led Mr .1. 11. 

 Ye^rwood (St Kitts) to refer to attempts he had made to 

 establish wind-breaks of Guinea corn when growing cotton on 

 the wind-ward side of St. Kitts He considered it a useful 

 wind-break, but thought that it ought to be planted before 

 the cotton. 



The Hon. .J. S. llollings (Nevis) said that he had 

 noticed that the north^.wind seemed to have a particularly 

 deleterious effect on cotton. 



Dr H. A. Temi)any introduced another point into 

 consideration, namely, the influence of soil tyjx.' upon yield. 

 Where cotton is grown on heavy soils, the fae-or of excessive 

 rainfall hid an injurious effect upon yield. 



The President in connexion with this point asked Mr. 

 S. C. Harland (St. Vincent) to make a statement in regard 

 to yields of lint in that Colony. In regard to the table of 

 figures referred to at the beginning of the discus-ion, Mr. 

 Harland called attention to the general break that occurs at 

 1910-11. .Since that year, in .St Vincent at any rate, the 

 yields had become gradually reduced. As regards the causes 

 for this, Jlr. Harland mentioned rainfall and its distribution, 

 the effect of bad cultivaiion, the effect of wind, the effect of 

 inadequate ro'ation of crop.s, and also the fact that seed is 

 often p'anted on land in an itnproperly prepared condition. 

 Mr. Harland made special reference tothe value of wind-breaks, 

 mentioning in particular the observed usefulness of seaside 

 grape. In connexion with the subject of wind-breaks, Mr. S. 

 W. Howes (Montserrat) stated that he had emjiloyed nian- 

 chineel as a wind-break with great success, this tree not being 

 for obvious reasons, interfered with by stock and bj' peojile, 

 as white cadar is likely to be. Mr. Howes gave details as to 

 the method of planting this tree. Mr. F 1!. Shepherd 

 (St. Kitts) then referred to wind-breaks, established by- 

 Mr Thurston on t'anada estate in St. Kitts. Mr. Hollings 

 at this point drew att' ntion to the variation in efficiency of 

 wind-breaks. The President enquired whether any attempt 

 had been made to plant terraced wind breaks on moun- 

 tain slopes Mr. Thurson (St. Kitts) stated that he 

 had difficulty in getting windrbreaks to grow on sloping land 

 in which positions the wind-breaks are also injured by wind 

 The trees grow well on flat land, but here they were not so 

 urgently needed, ilr Thurston had obtained satisfactory 

 results with Guinea corn and with manchineel, but stated 

 that this latter plant iloes not grow well any distance from 

 the sea.shore. 



Mr. Harland called attention to the necessitj- of protect- 

 ing wind-breaks in exposed situations until they had been 

 fairly established. Mr. Robson (Mont.serrat) stated that 

 white cedar had been successfully used on exposed windward 

 estates, though it was diflioult to establish a wind-break on 

 land which had rajiid slope to the sea. 



Developing Mr. Harland's point, Mr. W. Nowell (Imperial 

 Department of Agriculttire) pointed out the necessity for some 

 earlier nurse plant for the windbreak Mr. Nowell then 

 reverted to a principal point of discussion, the question of 

 yield of lint in relatiort to the cotton plant One of tl>e 

 most valuable poin's which had arisen out of the discussion 

 was th It in the last thirteen years since the cultivation of 

 cotton had been re est-iblished, there had been no indication 

 of any deterioration in the quality of the .seed. There had 

 been fluctuations, but that had not been due tothe plint, 

 but entirely to conditions of environment, ptrticuUrly 

 clinntic conditions Mr. Nowell then criticised figures in 

 the table already referred to, and stateil that while they 

 might be u.seful to planters they had no value as an index of 

 the cotton i)lant. This was exjilained on the b'sis of what 



