Vol IY. No. 76. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



69 



COTTON INDUSTRY. 



Sea Island Cotton Market. 



Wo extract the ibllowing from the report, dated 

 Charleston, February 4, of Messr.s. Henry W. Frost 

 & Co.:— 



The demand this week was Uniited to the odd bags of 

 fully fine to be had at 23c. and a crop lot, J.E.F. 20 bales at 

 ■27c. There continues to be a very limited demand for the 

 crop lots and no demand for 'Tinged Stained,' of which there 

 are now in stock about 600 bales and for wliicli, in the 

 absence of demand, factors are continuing to hold for our 

 previous quotations, but would make concessions to effect 

 sales. 



We quote [on February 18]: stained and tinged, 13c. to 

 18c,; fine, 20c.; fully fine, 2.3c. to 24c.; extra fine 25c. to 26c.; 

 e.xtra-fine crop lots 26c. to 2Sc.; extra-extra-fine crop lots at 48c. 



Prospects of the Crop. 



From the fortnightly report.^ of local officers we 

 extract the following information with i-egard to the 

 condition and prospects of the cotton crop: — 



Mr. Shepherd reports that in St. Kitt's picking of 

 cotton is now nearly finished and ginning is being pushed on 

 as rajiidly as possible. ' Apiilications for Hivers' seed for 

 planting next season are coming in, and the amount applied 

 for shows what a high opinion planters have of this seed.' 



!Mr. Sands reports that during the past fortnight he 

 Iiad visited several of the cultivations along the windward 

 coast in St. Vincent, and found that there was very little 

 cotton remaining to be picked. The earlier cotton had done 

 best, the later plantings having been more or less of 

 a failure. ' The i)Oor yield is attributed to the persistent 

 attacks of anthracnose of the bolls.' A few orders have 

 been received for seed for planting next season. Many 

 planters are ex})ected to select seed from the [iresent crop, 

 as they hope by so doing to obtain a hardier plant. 



Sale of West Indian Cotton. 



The following is an extract from a letter addressed 

 to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture by the 

 Vice-Chairman of the British Cotton-growing Associa- 

 tion, dated Manchester, February 14, 1905 : — 



We have been talking over the arrangements for selling 

 the cotton, and we have finally decided that the best plan 

 will be for us to charge 1 per cent, commission, which will 

 include tlie usual selling charges in Liverpool ; and, of course, 

 out of pocket expenses such as warehousing, handling, 

 insurance, etc., will be charged in addition. As we are 

 paying out of the 1 per cent, the brokers' selling charges, it 

 will only leave us a small margin, but this will be quite 

 sufficient. Our great object is to make the cotton growing 

 a satisfactory industry for the planters, so that they will 

 continue it. 



It would, pe'-haps, be as well if you were to make 

 a public announcement that we are prepared to sell any 

 cotton sent to us ou the above terms, so that there may be 

 110 misunderstanding. We did projiose before to charge 

 2 per cent., which would have included some of the handling 

 charges in Liverpool, but we find that these vary so much 

 with each shipment that it is quite impossible to fix 

 a covering rate which would be fair to both sides. In some 



cases we might clear ])erhaps 1 to 11- per cent., and in other 

 cases we should possibly lose money, so I think that the new 

 proposal of 1 per cent, will be the fairest to all sides. 



I have already written you to tell you that we have been 

 al)le to make very good arrangements for the sale of the cotton, 

 and to prevent the price being broken, but it very much depends 

 on whether the i>lanters consign their cotton to us for sale. 

 If tliey do this, I think we can almost guarantee to be able 

 to keep the price up to, at the very lowest. Is. per Ih., but if 

 the cotton is sent to London or elsewhere, there will be 

 a great danger of it being offered all over the market, with 

 a consequent breaking of the price. It i.s, therefore, to the 

 planters' interests to .send their cotton to us, and I think you 

 will agree with me that 1 per cent, commission is not an 

 unreasonable amount for them to pay. 



As regards the price, I do not think there will be any 

 fear, if the bulk of the cotton comes to us, of the price 

 dropping below Is., and I hope that the better lots of cotton 

 will fetch very much higher prices than this. We have just 

 .sold one of the first consignments at 16(?. per lb., and a few 

 bales fetched 16i(/. This is a s[>lcndid price, and I am very 

 pleased with it, but I hope that it will not lead to any false 

 expectations, because we certainly shall not be able to get 

 so high a price for cotton unless it has befen exceptionally 

 well cultivated and well harvested. The particular cotton 

 was one of the best samples I have ever seen — silky and 

 gathered when it was just in the pink of condition. You 

 will realize this better when I tell you that some of the best 

 qualities of American ' Island ' cotton are selling to-day at 

 very little over lid. per K). 



Jamaica. 



The Annual Report on Jamaica for the 3'ear 

 1903-4 has the following reference to the prospects of 

 cotton growing in that island : — ■ 



The attention which has been given to the revival of 

 cotton growing in the West Indies was participated in by 

 Jamaica. Cotton figured for the first time for many years 

 among the exports. In this year's statistics it should show 

 an important advance as there has been con.siderable planting. 

 There are thousands of acres of laud in Jamaica, including 

 some irrigable lands, which it has been demonstrated are 

 admirafily suited for the easy cultivation of cotton. The 

 reason why the planting of cotton has not been taken up in 

 Jamaica, as it has been in Barbados and some of the other 

 Lesser Antilles, is simply because banana planting and other 

 investments here oft'er a still more promising return. 

 Investments of capital in cotton growing, however, offer at 

 least as good a promise in .Jamaica as anywhere else in the 

 West Indies, ami I should exjiect that there will be very 

 shortly a considerable development of cotton planting on 

 such lands as I have referred to, which are not suitable for 

 banana, chocolate, or other established staples. 



I may observe that if cotton ginneries should be 

 established in suitable neighbourhoods, it is probable that 

 a large supply of cotton might, in a few years' time, be 

 obtainable from small cultivatoi-s. An experiment is being 

 made by the Board of Agriculture in this direction by placing 

 one of the cotton gins presented to this island by the British 

 Cotton-growing A.ssociation under the control of one of the 

 local agricultural societies. A pow-er gin, also presented 

 by the As.sociation, is being worked by Mr. Fursden, 

 a member of the Board of Agriculture, under the arrange- 

 ment that he .shall gin at a fixed rate all the cotton sent to 

 him. 



