Vol. XI. No. 278. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



40T 



cotton existed in all parts of i he island, and the crop was 

 almost a month ahead of that of last year; an area amount- 

 ing to 60 acres had been planted with pedigree seeds from the 

 Experiment Station. In general, there was little sign of root 

 disease in seedling cotton, in Moitserrat/The want of rain was 

 felt in .July, in the northern and windward districts. The leaf- 

 blister mite was observed, but (it is interesting to note) only 

 where there had been carelessness regarding the destruction of 

 old plants — a matter that was also very .evident the year be- 

 fore. During the month, severe attacks o^ cott.m stainers were 

 experienced in one or two small areas, Drj' weather in 

 August caused premature ripening in the plants that had 

 been put in earliest, and some picking was done: pests were 

 comparatively rare, except that leaf-blister mite was met 

 with in scattered areas, and cotton stainers were perhaps 

 more prevalent than usual. In September, good rains were 

 received throughout the island, and there was a consequent 

 improvement in the outlook for the cotton crop; as has been 

 indicated, picking commenced a month, at least, earlier than 

 in the previous year. Leaf-blister mite was more prevalent 

 than it had been for many years, chiefly in districts where 

 the drought had been most severe; but there was little trouble 

 from cotton worms. The incidence of angular leaf spot was 

 less than in the year befor;, and the flower-bud maggot 

 had not yet been reported; the attacks of cotton stainers 

 received special repoit from the C'aratnr of the Uotanic 

 Station. Considerable improvement of tli" plants took place 

 during October; by the end of this mouth, some of the 

 estates had already reaped half the crop. At this time, 

 the rtowerbud maggot was noticed on a limited area at 

 Kew Windward — the district from which the first report of 

 the pest in Montserrat was received; the attacks of cotton 

 worms were nol very severe, but leaf-blister mite was com- 

 mon. It was in the next month that the former pest did 

 considerable damage in part of the island. A peculiar feature 

 of the produce of this crop was the low percentage of lint 

 (on seed cotton) obtained on some of the estates. Cotton- 

 picking was delayed by frequent rains, at the close of 

 December, and this rainfall seems to have had some connexion 

 with a larger proportion of stained cotton that was obtained. 

 Cotton stainers and diseases were prevalent, and in conse- 

 quence the work in February was concerned chiefly with the 

 destruction of the old plants. At this time, the Curator 

 stated that the reports on cotton sent from Montserrat 

 indicated that the lint was being prepared more carefully for 

 shipment, though there was frequent mention of irregularity 

 of staple. By the end of April, the destruction of the old 

 plants was nearly complete. 



ANTIGUA. The preparation of land for sowing was 

 commenced in April (1911), and some few acres were put in 

 during the next month; at the commencement of the season it 

 was expected that there would be an increase in the total 

 area of cotton cultivation. There was dry weather, hnwever, 

 during June, which prevented the further early planting of 

 cotton; and this continued for the next two months, although 

 showers from time to time, in the southern part of the island 

 permitted the sowing of seed to be resumed in August, to 

 some extent. As has been indicated, there were good rains 

 in September, and though the drought had adversely affected 

 the earlier-planted fields, the seed sown in this month .showed 

 .1 good germination. Many of the cultivations required weed- 

 ing, and there were a few isolated attacks of the cotton worm. 

 By the end of October, the area under cotton in Antigua and 

 Barbuda was 637A acres, of which 507i acres were in Antigua. 

 At this time, some severe attacks of the cotton worm were 

 experienced, and there was a slight appearance of red spider 

 and of beetles. The cotton worm continued to require treat- 



ment during Xov^iber, and the flower bud-maggot appeared 

 near the end of the month, though in no serious way; the condi- 

 tion of the cotton crop was, in fact, promising on the whole. 

 These conditions obtained throughout December, except that 

 the attacks of the cotton worm had become very few, and 

 cotton stainers were found especially in fields containing 

 plants with ripening bolls. The general promising state of 

 the crop continued in .January, and fair returns from picking 

 were received in February. As in the case of some of the 

 other cotton-growing islands, Antigua was visited at this time 

 by Mr. J. W. McConnel, one of the representatives of the 

 British Cotton Growing Association at the Agricultural Con- 

 ference held in Trinidad, and it was expected that his visit 

 would do much toward the encouragement and re-establish- 

 ment of the cotton industry in the island. Up to the end of 

 April, about 42,-1:005). of cotton lint had been shipped from 

 Antigua, and it was all picked by the end of May. There 

 were indications that a large increase in planting would tak& 

 place in the next season (for the present crop) in the island. 



ST. KiTT.^. The crop season commenced in March (1911) 

 when the preparation of land was begun, and planting took 

 place during this month in small areas in the northern district. 

 In the next month, cotton was planted between young sugar- 

 canes, on two estates as an experiment, and it seemed as if 

 the trial would be successful. Eirly planted fields at Lodge 

 and Brighton estates gave pickings as early as July; ia 

 general, in this month, the cotton was healthy and vigorous, 

 on an area about equal to that of the preceding season. This 

 condition obtained during the next month, although as in 

 several of the other islands, rain was wanted; fair returns 

 continued to be obtained from early-planted cotton, and the 

 receipt of useful rains in October gave hopes of a second 

 picking from this. By the last-named month, harvesting had 

 become general, and there were very promising prospects of 

 a good return; though it was necessary to use large quantities 

 of insecticides to keep the cotton worm in check The 

 trouble with this pest continued during the next month; 

 while picking and ginning were continued actively, with very 

 good returns on some estates and the prospect of an average 

 crop, generally. At the end of December, a considerable 

 amount of the lint had been shipped; leaf-blister mite was 

 prevalent where the cotton was being kept for a second pick- 

 ing. A few cotton stainers were seen in January, on a very 

 small amount of the older cotton. The work of the seasoa 

 ended in March of this year, when all the cotton had beea 

 picked and preparations were being made for the new crop. 



This account will be continued in the next issue of the 

 Agricultural A'evs. 



Cotton in Corea. — The cultivation of cotton in,- 

 Corea appears to be progressing satisfactorily, and there is 

 a great desire on the part of the authorities that this enter- 

 prise should be pushed on and developed, as it is of great; 

 promise. The area under cultivation at the end of 1911 was 

 estimated at about 1 "2.5,000 acres. The output for 1911 is 

 estimated at 33,940,000 5). as against 17,333,000 R. in 1910, 

 an increase of nearly 100 per. cent. The export for 1911 

 shows a decrea-ie due to the fact that, as in the case of cereals^ 

 the 1911 crop has not yet been shipped. 



A company, known as the Kankoku Menkwa Kaisha, 

 has for some vtars been cultivating cotton in Corea, and aa 

 attempt is being made to establish a second company for the 

 same purpose under the title of Chosen Menkwa Kaisha, 

 The promoters of both companies are cotton spinners ia 

 Japan. (Diplomatic and Consul'ir Reports, No. 4889 Annual 

 Series.) 



