THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 6, 191-2. 



WEST INDIAN COTTON. 



Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of Liverpool, 

 write as follows, under date December 18, with reference 

 to the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



Owing to the absence of desirable qualities, no business 

 in West Indian Sea Islands has been reported since our last 

 report, with the exception of a few bales of Stains. 



We expect the new crop will command good prices. 



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

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern States, for the week 

 ending December 16, is as follows: — 



We have had a continuance of the demand, resulting in 

 the sales quoted, taking such ofFering.s as the factors are 

 willing to dispose of at prices now current. 



The limited supply of bright, sound cotton was sought 

 after, not being sufficient to sati.sfy the demand. 



The crop is still estimated at 4,.500 bales, which, with 

 1,400 bales brought over from last year, would make an 

 available supply of .5,900 bales. The sales so far have been 

 nearly 3,000 bales, so you will note that one half of the total 

 supply has been disposed of. 



The above sales included several crop lots, viz; 67 liales 

 Jno. J. Mikell; 47 bales. Palmetto Blutf, sold at 40c.; and 1.5 

 bales, D.W.E., at 4.5c. 



We quote : — 

 Extra Fine, .3-2c. 



Fine to Fully 26c. to 28c. 

 Fine to Fully Fine \ ,^ 

 off in preparation / 



to 



= I8d., c.i.f., &, 5 per cent. 



: \5d. to IQd. c.i.f. & 5 per cent. 



20c. = iojrf. to i\y. „ „ „ 



Cotton Cultivation in Southern Siam.— 



Among the articles ot export may be noted an item of 8,983 

 piculs (about 530 tons) of cotton, valued at £9,615, all con- 

 signed to Hong Kong. A .Japanese syndicate has been inter- 

 ested in the cultivation of cotton in this district for some 

 time past. The export, however, does not tend to increase, 

 and the local exhibits at the recent Exhibition of Agriculture 

 and Commerce in Bangkok were pronounced to be generally 

 poor. It is thought that the climate and soil of Southern 

 Siam should prove suitable for the growing of cotton. The 

 introduction of .superior varieties from other coun cries may, 

 perhaps, be productive of good results; the high cost of labour 

 is, however, a severe handicap to planters. Experiments 

 have been made with Egyptian cotton, but the results have 

 not been very satisfactory, the .staple turning out little better 

 than that of local varieties. (The Monthly Magazine of the 

 Incorporated Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool, Novem- 

 ber 1911.) 



THE EGYPTIAN COTTON CROP. 



The following interesting account of the Egyptian 

 cotton crop is taken from the Journal of the Royal 

 Society of Arts for December 1, 1911: — 



Since the publication of an article on Egyptian cotton 

 in this .Journal on October 14, 1910, some more experience 

 has been gained by those who devote their attention to the 

 culture of the nioit important crop in the country of the Nile. 

 Attention was then drawn to the gradual deterioration of the 

 crop, which for long has held the highest place in the cotton 

 market for quality, if not for quantity. The chief causes of 

 the falling otf of the Egyptian crop have been stated by the 

 experts to be (1) over irrigation; (2) exhaustion of the land; 

 (3) insufficiency of new; good seed; and (4) the gradual ad- 

 mixtuie of the crop with 'Hindi' cotton, this being the name 

 of iin undesirable type of cotton with a short, weak fibre, that 

 injures the high grade of Egyptian varieties by infesting them 

 with hybrids. [See Ayrkvltural A'etrs, Vol. X, p. 310.] 



In August 1910, a Lepartment of Agriculture was 

 formed at Cairo, with a suitable staff, to study and deal with 

 questions that have up till now been referred to the Khedivial 

 Agricultural Society. The Egyptian crop of 1909-10 was very 

 poor in quantity, and, owing to the smallncss of the supply, 

 prices were exorbitantly high. The market was already 

 threatened by American enterpri.se, for the manufacturers of 

 the States knew how to produce an imitation of the goods 

 made with Egyptian cotton, which, if not so satisfactory, 

 answered many purposes. The Egyptian crop of 191011 

 was so surprisingly good, and reached so high a figure, that 

 harvest thanksgivings were held in Cairo churches, and the 

 experts, who continued to utter warnings, were altogether in 

 the minority. 



The new Department of Agriculture had signified to the 

 farmers and peasant cultivators that it was quite ready to 

 otier advice with regard to selection of seed or cultivation, 

 but the good crop of last summer gave such a feeling of 

 security that the fellah appears to have taken even less care 

 than usual. In the month of June a severe attack of cotton 

 worm, a much-dreaded insect pest, made its appearance. 

 The Agricultural Department organized a special system of 

 inspection, that was continued throughout the summer. 

 Although all available means were adopted, the scourge raged 

 throughout the summer. The onlj- practical retnedy was to 

 kill the coming generation — not so much the already matured 

 worm, but rather the small house that the pupa forms for 

 itself, composed of earth and lime, and lined with a kind of 

 silk. This is very hard, and needs breaking up in order to 

 get at the pupa within and drown it. The loss b)' cotton 

 worm this year is estimated at £5,000,000. 



