Vol. IV. No. 72. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



has been delinted lias jirobab!}- a considerably liiglier value 

 for feeding than ordinary Indian cotton cake. The pro- 

 duction of cake from delinted seed is well worth the 

 attention of seed crushers. 



COTTON INDUSTRY. 



Prospects of the Crop. 



From the fortnightly reports of local oflficeis \vc 

 extract the following information with regard to the 

 condition and pro.sjiects of the cotton crop-: — 



From Montserrat Mr. Jordan reports two pickings from 

 the plot at Grove Station since his last report. Picking was 

 general, and it was estimated that some 20,000 It), of seed 

 cotton had been picked to date. The cotton worm was 

 being kept in check, but the ' black boll' had shown signs of 

 spreading. 



The cotton fields inspected by Mr. Shepherd in St. Kitt's 

 were in a promising condition. There were signs of attacks 

 of pests, hut as every attention was being given by the 

 planters, little damage was anticipated. 



Mr. Sands reports that in St. Vincent 82,110 It), of seed 

 cotton had been picked, and that picking was in full swing. 

 The report of the Emergency Officer shows that the general 

 condition of the crop was good. 



Indian Cotton Seed Cake. 



The following notes are abstracted from a report 

 by Professor Douglas A. Gilchrist, M.Sc, Director of 

 the Northumberland County Demonstration Farm, on 

 'Feeding E.xperiments with Indian Cotton cakes': — 



Last autumn, Mr. James ^lollison. Inspector General 

 of Agriculture in India, sent to Hull ten lots of about 1 ton 

 seed, which had been grown in 

 The objects were to ascertain the 

 comparative values of rough cotton cake from cotton seed 

 grown in different districts, and to compare the amounts of 

 refuse, oil, and cake produced from dilferent lots of seed. 

 He also desired that a comparison should be made of the 

 feeding returns obtained in (a) ordinary rough or undecorti- 

 catcd cake, [b) de/inted cake from which as much as possible 

 of the. fun, or cotton which adheres to Indian cotton seed, has 

 been removed from the seed before crushing, and (c) decorti- 

 cated cake from \\hich the husks or hulls and cotton have 

 been removed from the seeds before crushing. The cakes 

 produced from the different lots of Indian cotton seed were 

 placed at the disposal of the Cockle Park Committee by the 

 Indian Government. 



Some of the practical results of the experiments were as 

 follows : — 



1. That Indian (Bombay) rough cotton cake, when of 

 good quality, gives satisfactory results with stock fed indoors 

 or on pasture, and that its high manurial value makes it 

 a desirable manurial agent, especially for improving poor 

 pasture. Eor this latter purpose it is giving good results 

 at Cockle Park. 



2. It is most desirable that cake produced from Indian 

 cotton seed which has been damaged while being harvested, 

 or during storage or transit, should be branded as such, and 

 that damaged seed should not be mixed with good seed 

 before being crushed. The Indian Government and seed 

 crushers shoidd combine to deal with this matter. 

 Meantime, purchasers of this cake should always have 

 samples examined by an expert before completing the 



■ purchase. 



3. The cake produced from Indian cotton seed which 



each of Indian cotton 

 different parts of India. 



Barbados Cotton Central Factory. 



The Committee appointed at a meeting of the 

 Agricultural Society on February G, 1903, toco-operate 

 with the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies in its endeavour to establish a cotton 

 industry in Barbados, has submitted the following 

 interim report : — 



The rejiort now submitted covers the period from 

 January 2-5, 1904, when the Cotton Central Factory was 

 re-opened by his Excellency the Governor, Sir Frederic M. 

 Hodgson, K.C.M.G., to November 31, 1904. 



The building now used as the Cotton Central Factory 

 was originally built in Christ Church at a cost of 

 £283 lOs. 6},il., for a small-pox hospital, but was never used. 

 This building was loaned by the Governor-in-Executive 

 Committee to the Imperial Department of Agriculture. The 

 Legislature then voted £370 for moving the building to the 

 Pier Head, building the foundation, and erecting the 

 machinery, etc. Of this sum £363 2s. lOc^. was expended. 

 The balance £6 17s. '2d. lapsed into the Treasury at the end 

 of the financial year 1903-4. In addition, the Briti.sh Cotton- 

 growing Association made a free grant to the Cotton 

 Committee of £100. Tliey also loaned the Cotton Committee 

 six gins and a baling press for which the Association may 

 accept less than they originally cost. The British Cotton- 

 growing Association have also, at the request of Sir Daniel 

 Mori-is, recently loaned the Cotton Committee a disintegrator 

 outfit, of the estimated value of £100, for crushing the 

 cotton-seed. 



The probable total cost of the Cotton Central Factory, it 

 is estimated, will be £9G6. From this, however, must be 

 deducted the £100 granted from the British Cotton-growing 

 Association, leaving the cost of the Factory as £866, which 

 in whole or part will eventually have to be repaid. 



From the time the Factory was started in January, 1904, 

 to the end of Octoljer, 360,978 It), of seed-cotton have been 

 ginned, yielding 104,923 It), of lint and 251,383 lb. of seed. 

 The lint obtained was 29-06 per cent, of the weight of seed- 

 cotton ginned. The loss incurred during the ginning, due to 

 the seed and lint drying and to the dust, etc., in the cotton 

 and lint, amounted to 4,672 lb., or r30 per cent, of the 

 weight of seed-cotton. The lint was made into 378 bales, 

 weighing on the average 277'6 It), each, of which 362 were 

 shi^jped by the Factory and 16 delivered to the owners or 

 their agents. The receipts from ginning the 104,923 lb. of 

 lint at 3c. per lb. are £6-55 1.5.s. 41;/., the value of crushing the 

 94,361 tt). of seed at 6c. per 100 ft. is £11 15s. lid., making 

 together the total receipts of the Factory £667 lis. 3hd. 



The expenses to the end of November amounted 

 to £342 Is. 3(7., leaving a balance at that date of 

 £325 10s. OhI. Of this it is propo.sed, in accordance with the 

 decision of the Cotton Committee, to divide pro rata among 

 the growers what was left after deducting all expenses for 

 ginning, etc., £218 lis. 9W., or Ic. per Bb. of lint. This 

 will leave on hand £106 ISs. 2>d. — sufficient to purchase new 

 roller-s, new shafts, walrus hide, to pay for the erection of the 

 new baling press, to pay small sundry accounts which have 

 not yet been received, and generally to put the Cotton Central 

 Factory in as good a condition as it was at the beginning of 

 the last season, leaving a small balance on hand estimated 

 to be about £30. 



